Police in the UK were on Thursday continuing their investigation of an attempt to steal £220m ($424m) from Sumitomo, the Japanese bank, after investigators in Israel made the first arrest in the five-month-old case.

Israeli police said they arrested Yaron Bolondi, 32, near Tel Aviv on Wednesday on suspicion of planning to launder €20m ($27m) in Israel. He would be kept in remand for seven days, with a possibility of an extension, according to local police, who are conducting a joint investigation with two officers from the UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit.