(see related)Rome City Hall
personnel chief Raffaele Marra and real estate developer Sergio
Scarpellini are "a danger to society" and might commit further
"serious offences" if left at large, according to an arrest
warrant against them out Friday.
The warrant pointed to a risk Marra committing further crimes
"due to his concrete role in the city of Rome and the undoubted
trust he enjoys from Mayor Virginia Raggi".
Also on Friday, wiretaps pointed to what investigators say
was "the nature of the relationship" between Marra and
Scarpellini.
In one wiretapped conversation held in June 2016, Marra was
heard telling Scarpellini's secretary that "I remain at his
(Scarpellini's) disposal".
"He knows I'm at his service," Marra said after asking for
Scarpellini to put in a word in his favor with cement magnate
and publisher Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone.
Marra had asked Scarpellini to ask Caltagirone to exert his
influence to prevent unfavorable press reports about himself.
Marra also appeared to fear being removed from his
influential position as Raggi's chief of staff.
Raggi did in fact reassign Marra as chief of personnel at
City Hall after a slew of protests and unfavorable press reports
about him.
"I was organizing everything," Marra said in a wiretapped
conversation. "I've gone from being the most powerful man to the
last of the wankers in three days".
Also on Friday, Raggi admitted in a press conference she
might have been wrong to have made Marra her personnel chief,
and tried to distance herself from the official who has widely
been described as her right-hand man.
"We probably made a mistake," Raggi said. "Marra was a
manager, and we trusted him. I'm sorry for the citizens of Rome
and the 5-Star Movement (M5S)".
Raggi hails from the populist, euroskeptic M5S led by
comedian Beppe Grillo, to whom she also apologized for her
staunch defence of Marra in the months prior to his arrest.
"Grillo had some doubts," Raggi admitted. "Marra is not a
politician, and the people of Rome are my right hand".
She also said she would replace Marra "immediately", that she
trusts in the judiciary, and that her administration will go
forward.
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