Northern League's Rizzi arrested

(ANSA) - Milan, February 16 - The Northern League's Fabio Rizzi, a Lombardy regional councillor, was arrested on Tuesday in relation to a probe into alleged corruption in contracts at Lombardy hospitals. A businessman considered close to Rizzi, Mario Valentino Longo, was arrested and taken to jail too. Rizzi's wife has been put under house arrest, as has Longo's, and police searched for evidence at the councillor's home and at regional offices. The probe concerns a series of public contacts for the outsourcing of hospital dentistry services.
    Rizzi, 49, is an anesthetist by professional who has been a councillor since 2013 and was a Senator from 2008 to 2013.
    He is the chair of the Lombardia regional assembly's health committee and the architect of a reform of the region's health system commissioned by Governor Roberto Maroni, a fellow League member.