Marcello De Vito | Vincenzo Tersigni/EPA Top 5Star Rome council official arrested over corruption Prosecutors accuse Marcello De Vito of taking bribes from local entrepreneur to favor his tender for new football stadium.

ROME — A top official from the 5Star Movement who effectively serves as a deputy for Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi was arrested early Wednesday in connection with a corruption case.

Prosecutors accused Marcello De Vito, the president of Rome's city council’s assembly, of having taken bribes from local entrepreneur Luca Parnasi — who is currently under arrest and facing trial over the same case — to favor his project to build a new football stadium for the Roma team. According to daily Corriere della Sera, De Vito also "accepted money and favors" from two other building companies to favor their projects in Rome.

The prosecutors, Barbara Zuin and Luigia Spinelli, said De Vito "accepted bribes both directly and indirectly from Parnasi and in exchange he promised to favor Parnasi's stadium project within Raggi's 5Stars city council," Italian daily La Repubblica reported. Authorities have for several years been investigating alleged corruption related to the project, which is a highly charged issue in Rome, with prosecutors suspending construction of the stadium.

De Vito's arrest is a major blow for Rome's embattled mayor and the governing 5Stars, who have made fighting systemic corruption in Italian politics a signature issue. Raggi escaped being forced out of office at the end of last year when she was acquitted in a corruption case, but is still struggling to fix ingrained municipal problems such as dirty streets, potholes and a dysfunctional public transport system.

The news came just hours after investigative weekly L'Espresso reported the new Democratic Party secretary, Nicola Zingaretti, is under investigation for taking illegal party funding. While Zingaretti dismissed the allegations as rumors and l'Espresso said there is no proof so far of wrongdoing, the 5Stars immediately called for his resignation as governor of the Lazio region, which also includes Rome, and as party secretary.

"It's shameful such corruption practices are so hard to die within the Democratic Party," said Francesco Silvestri, a 5Star lawmaker, in response to the Zingaretti news.