Roman club Lazio was hit by allegations of financial misconduct amid a general lull in Italy's 'Soccergate' scandal on Tuesday. Lazio President Claudio Lotito and the club's second-biggest shareholder Roberto Mezzaroma were placed under investigation on suspicion of forming an illicit
syndicate to keep control of the club.
The homes of both men were searched.
In Milan, meanwhile, prosecutors opened a probe into suspected share-price rigging.
Police searched offices of Lazio, two of its creditor banks, Capitalia and Unicredit, and other firms linked to Lotito.
Meanwhile, after Monday's nine-hour questioning of Fiorentina boss Diego Della Valle, the main Soccergate or 'Clean Feet' probes took time out, with only two referees questioned by prosecutors in Rome and Naples. Prosecutors will question more club bosses, soccer officials and refs later this week on suspicion of match-fixing, accountancy fraud and rigged transfers.
Francesco Saverio Borrelli, the former Clean Hands chief called in to make disciplinary recommendations, has said he will have the mess sorted out by late June. The scandal broke when wiretaps were published of Juventus ex-general manager Luciano Moggi apparently influencing referees.
Since then, police have started sifting through 40 contracts involving 70 clubs. Most of Serie A has been implicated but some clubs, like Fiorentina and AC Milan, have claimed they were sucked into the so-called 'Moggi system' in self-defence.
Also on Tuesday, Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri said the government would help Italian soccer "turn over a new leaf" and the judiciary's supreme body banned magistrates from taking lucrative consultancy contracts with clubs.
