Rome prosecutors are
investigating businessman and former center-right Rome mayoral
candidate Alfio Marchini and 22 others, sources said Friday.
Finance police earlier searched the premises of 13 companies -
and the homes of their managers and executives - all of which
are linked to Marchini's Methorios Capital SpA financial
consultancy company. Charges in the operation code-named
'Checkmate' could include criminal association and falsifying
company books. Investigators say the suspects engaged in dodgy
financial transactions worth significant amounts of money at
Banca Popolare di Vincenza and Banca Popolare dell'Etruria e del
Lazio. Marchini, who initially ran as an independent, was backed
by former premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi in the June
2016 local election that saw Virginia Raggi from the populist,
euroskeptic 5-Star Movement become Rome's first woman mayor.
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