Authorities carry out arrests in Spain's anti-corruption operation

Spanish police's anti-economic and fiscal delinquency unit (UDEF) on Monday carried out a series of arrests in the southern community of Andalusia in connection with an operation against wide-scale fraud committed in the organization of grants and training courses.

The third phase of "Operation Edu" is expected to last around three weeks and has so far produced arrests in the provinces of Granada, Jaen Malaga, Cadiz, Huelva and Almeria.

In total, around 30 people are expected to be detained for their part in a fraud which saw companies receive grants of public money for training courses which were either never carried out or given at reduced costs.

It is estimated that the total value of the fraud could rise to 3 billion euros (3.3 billion U.S. dollars).

Among those arrested are the former delegate for employment for Malaga, Juan Carlos Lomena and Antonio Juan Vidal, who held the same position in Cadiz.

The investigation, which has so far lasted for around 18 months has seen members of the UDEF carry out around 3,500 interviews of teachers contracted to give courses, as well as students and those working for the companies involved.

One tactic used by companies to defraud money appears to have been to contract teachers on a freelance basis and them only pay half of the money they had been given by authorities to finance the course. Endit