Swiss police have arrested a Czech member of the European Parliament and three Slovaks over the attempted withdrawal of 350 million euros ($A517m) from a bank using forged papers.
Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec confirmed the arrest of the four men on Friday.
They include Miloslav Ransdorf, 62, an expert on Karl Marx and a former philosophy teacher who speaks about dozen languages and who has served in the European Parliament since the Czech Republic's entry to the European Union in 2004.
"Swiss authorities told our ambassador Mr Ransdorf was released from custody, so I assume he could be on his way home now," Michaela Lagronova, a Czech foreign ministry spokeswoman, said.
She said the politician had not contacted the Czech embassy in Switzerland, so the ministry had no further details.
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Reuters was not immediately able to contact Ransdorf for comment.
Media reports said the group tried to withdraw the money at a Zurich bank on Thursday but the documents they presented did not match records.
