Sao Paulo - Brazilian Federal Police on Tuesday arrested former Sao Paulo mayor Celso Pitta and banker Daniel Dantas, in an operation against a group that allegedly committed financial crimes.

The so-called Operation Satiagraha also led to the arrest of Lebanese-Brazilian businessman Naji Nahas, charged with stock fraud in 1989 which virtually left the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange bankrupt.

No further details were given of the operation, in which close to 300 officers were involved in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Salvador de Bahia, and which sought to arrest 24 people and to confiscate documents.

According to a short statement by police in Sao Paulo, those arrested could be charged with corruption, money laundering, capital flight, tax evasion and criminal association.

In Brasilia, Justice Minister Tarso Genro said the arrests were the result of a three-year investigation.

Federal police sources cited by the news website G1 said Dantas - the head of the powerful financial group Opportunity - was allegedly the leader of a group that created fake companies to obtain loans from the state.

Nahas, in turn, allegedly led another group, made up of businessmen and foreign exchange specialists, which engaged in money laundering through the financial markets.

No details were given of the likely charges against Celso Pitta, who was between January 1997 and December 2000 the first black man to lead Sao Paulo, the largest and richest city in Brazil. (dpa)