(Changes sourcing to confirmation by court, further details).
MADRID / BEIJING, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Spanish police have arrested a sixth worker at the Madrid branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), a Madrid court said on Friday, after five directors were detained in a raid on Wednesday.
The arrests follow an investigation by police, the Spanish tax agency and Europol into alleged money-laundering through the branch involving funds suspected of having been transferred via the bank to China by a criminal group.
"The bank remains operative. The entrance and registration was done within the strict framework of the investigation and, so, there has been no judicial intervention in the bank itself," the court said in a statement.
The six suspects are due to testify later on Friday, said. The arrested face charges of money laundering, fraud and tax crimes and include the Madrid branch's general manager, according to a legal source.
"The bank is paying great attention to developments," an ICBC spokesman in Beijing said. No one at the bank in Madrid was immediately available for comment.
China's foreign ministry said in a statement earlier on Friday that the country attached high importance to the case and it had asked that Spain protect the rights and interests of Chinese firms and citizens there and handle the case in accordance with the law.
(Reporting by Paul Day and Maria Vega in Madrid, Shu Zhang in Beijing; Editing by Adrian Croft, Greg Mahlich).