Roundup: Rome corruption case spells trouble for right-wing party

The arrest of the former right-hand man of Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi could spell trouble for her populist Five-Star Movement (M5S), which prides itself on being uncontaminated by corruption unlike other political parties, analysts said.

Raggi's appointee Raffaele Marra was detained Friday on suspicion of corruption dating back to 2013, while he was a powerful official in the administration of the right-winger Gianni Alemanno, the former Rome mayor.

Marra was arrested along with prominent Rome real estate developer Sergio Scarpellini, who investigators say bribed Marra with money for a flat he purchased in June 2013.

The arrest warrant against the two said they are "a danger to society" and might commit further "serious offences" if left at large, and that Marra was at risk of committing further crimes "due to his role in the city of Rome and the undoubted trust he enjoys from Mayor Virginia Raggi."

Alemanno was himself investigated in the so-called capital mafia probe into a ring of gangsters, businessmen, and crooked politicians that muscled in on lucrative city contracts for trash collection and the management of asylum seeker reception centers and Romani people camps.

Raggi swept into office in June 2016 in a landslide victory after pledging to break from the "caste of crony politicians" she said had ruled Rome for decades. She immediately named Marra as her cabinet secretary, then moved him to head of personnel at City Hall.

The demise of Marra, whom Raggi staunchly defended right up to his arrest, has sent shock waves through the M5S led by comedian Beppe Grillo. As the highest-profile M5S elected official, her administration is seen as a test case for the populist party's government ambitions ahead of the next general election, which may take place as early as spring 2017 after ex-premier Matteo Renzi stepped down following a crushing defeat in a December 4 referendum on his constitutional reform.

Marra's downfall came just days after Raggi nominee Paola Muraro stepped down on Dec. 12 after it emerged she is under investigation on several counts of environmental crime during her tenure as a highly paid consultant for Rome trash company AMA from 2010 to 2015.

Marra, whose City Hall office was raided last week, was expected to be questioned by prosecutors on Tuesday. Investigators are combing through his bank accounts and all the measures he signed while serving as a public official under Raggi.

They will be trying to discern whether or not Marra was in anybody's pocket, as his arrest warrant alleges. They are expected to ask Marra about the promotion of his brother Renato Marra from deputy traffic police chief to a highly paid position as head of the city's tourism department, and also about why his family has moved to the island country of Malta.

"I know everything about them; sooner or later I will speak out," Marra often repeated, according to interviews in local media by the former head of the City Hall legal office, Rodolfo Murra. Enditem