MADRID (AP) — Spanish police say they have arrested the suspected financial mastermind of the alleged scheme of kickbacks involving Brazil's the state oil company Petrobras, construction companies and Brazilian politicians.

The Civil Guard said Tuesday the man, aged 43, and identified only by his initials R.T.D., was arrested in a Madrid hotel days after he arrived from the United States, where he had fled to from Brazil.

A police statement said Brazil wants him on charges of money laundering, organized crime and bribery. It said he is considered the person responsible for a scheme of kickbacks in return for public and private works contracts

Police said he was a lawyer for the Odebrecht construction company and is a suspect in the laundering of more than $15 million from Petrobras via political parties.