Prosecutors on Thursday quizzed Rome's grassroots mayor Virginia Raggi in a secret location over claims she abused her powers of office and gave false testimony in the hiring of city hall's tourism department head.
Asked by reporters where she would be questioned, Raggi replied: "We'll see."
The location could reportedly be in high-security offices by Rome's supreme court in the Prati district, where terrorism suspects have been grilled.
Raggi claims she acted alone in appointing Renato Marra, the former city traffic police chief to head the Rome council's tourism office and in increasing his salary.
He is the brother of Raggi's former personnel chief, Raffaele Marra, who was arrested and removed from his post in December for alleged corruption linked to a 2013 property deal.
Raggi last week rejected reports that she was in secret negotiations with prosecutors who are probing her.
The Five-Star Movement to which she belongs presents itself as a squeaky-clean alternative to the country's graft-plagued traditional parties. Opinion polls suggest it could beat the ruling centre-left Democratic Party in the next national elections due in 2018.
Raggi's legal woes come just weeks after the Five-Star Movement to which she belongs said it would not require its politicians who are put under legal investigation to automatically resign.
