Rome, February 3 - Rome's grassroots mayor Virginia Raggi said after an eight-hour grilling by prosecutors that she knew nothing of a 30,000-euro life assurance policy written out in her name by her former cabinet chief Salvatore Romeo.
"I only learned today about the insurance policy that Romeo took out in my name," Raggi told reporters late on Thursday.
Raggi had been quizzed in a separate probe in which she is accused of abuse of office and false testimony over the hiring of Renato Marra, brother of the former city council personnel chief Raffaele Marra, as Rome tourism chief.
"I cleared everything up," Raggi said as she emerged late Thursday.
"I'm am moving forward," she said.
She also told reporters she had the trust of Beppe Grillo, leader of the Five-Star movement to which she belongs.
Romeo reportedly took out the insurance policy in Raggi's name in January 2016, six months before he got his highly paid job as cabinet chief and almost tripled his previous salary.
Grillo in late December forced Raggi to sack Romeo, as well as her then- deputy mayor Daniele Frongia. Renato Marra was also removed from his post in December. The dismissals followed Raffaele Marra’s arrest and the resignation of Raggi’s environment councillor Paola Muraro over alleged malpractice.
The stream of graft and cronyism allegations that have hit Raggi's administration are a deep embarrassment to the Five-Star Movement, which presents itself as a squeaky-clean alternative to the country's corruption-plagued traditional parties. Opinion polls suggest it could beat the ruling centre-left Democratic Party in the next national elections due in 2018.
