Former IMF chief Rato arrested on fraud charges

The former Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, Rodrigo Rato, who was also the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund was arrested on charges of fraud, concealment of assets and money laundering.

Rato, who was also the President of Bankia, which needed a government bailout of almost 24 billion US dollars in May 2012, was detained on Thursday afternoon at his Madrid residence after agents on the instructions of a judge had searched it, Xinhua reported.

Rato, who was Deputy Prime Minister for the Popular Party under Jose Maria Aznar, was one of the people who took advantage of the fiscal amnesty approved by Aznar's successor as PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, in 2012.

Spain's Minister of Justice Rafael Catala said the detention showed the law was "the same for everyone."

"It shows the justice system works and that the judges and lawyers carry out their investigations and that the institutions guarantee the law is equal for us all," said Catala.

The search of Rato's home lasted all afternoon, while in the evening authorities took Rato, who has also had to recently testify for the use of undeclared credit cards given to former Bankia directors, to his office to carry out a search there.