martedì 1 febbraio 2011

Berlusconi's harem of 14 women revealed

Berlusconi's harem of 14 women revealed

Italy's Prime Minister has bounced back from countless scandals, but the latest allegations may prove disastrous

By Peter Popham

Sunday, 16 January 2011

Berlusconi (above) is accused of paying for sex with Karima El Mahroug when she was 17

EPA

Berlusconi (above) is accused of paying for sex with Karima El Mahroug when she was 17

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Silvio Berlusconi maintained at least 14 glamorous young women in apartments in a gated complex outside Milan, leaks from prosecutors in the city revealed yesterday. They lived rent-free in the estate and were given large sums of cash by the billionaire politician in return for sex.

Milano Due was one of the first gated housing estates in Italy, a sprawling complex of flats set in landscaped gardens, built by Mr Berlusconi himself in the 1970s when he was a thrusting young property developer. With underground parking, a supermarket, bars and other facilities, it is one of the most fashionable addresses in the Milan hinterland. When he moved into television, Mr Berlusconi located the headquarters of Mediaset, his television company, here.

But in his declining years the estate has also become the headquarters of what is, in effect, his harem, it is alleged. Its presence was revealed by Corriere della Sera newspaper yesterday in yet another blow to the battered image of the Prime Minister as he prepares to defend himself against what could be the gravest crisis of his political career. Prosecutors in Milan are demanding that he be put on trial immediately for having sex with an underage prostitute.

The existence of the flats was revealed by Karima El Mahroug, a teenage belly-dancer from Morocco who trades under the name of Ruby Rubacuori, "Ruby heart-stealer". She ruined Mr Berlusconi's summer last year when it emerged that he had contrived to have her sprung from police custody after she was suspected of theft. He told police they were actually holding the granddaughter of President Mubarak of Egypt. As a prosecutor in Milan remarked subsequently: "If she's Mubarak's granddaughter, I'm Queen Nefertiti."

The dancer admitted to prosecutors that she had attended erotic evenings hosted by the Prime Minister at one of his homes. But now lawyers have taken advantage of the partial lifting of the Mr Berlusconi's immunity from prosecution to summon him for trial on a charge of having sex with the dancer when she was 17. Sex with a prostitute under 18 is punishable by up to three years in jail.

Mr Berlusconi does not deny hosting "relaxing parties" at his various grand homes, at which numerous young women, including showgirls, TV weather girls, escorts and prostitutes, were brought in to have dinner and listen to his jokes.

That those parties culminate in so-called "bunga-bunga" games, in which the women put on topless costumes and compete to see who can perform the hottest sex show, became known when Ms Mahroug blurted it out to prosecutors last summer.

Mr Berlusconi tried to stem the flood of revelations by having his lawyers round up other participants in the parties and get them to agree that none had had sex with him, and that the parties were innocuous. But three participants escaped their net, and it is their evidence that is crucially damaging for the PM.

According to one, a graduate in law and economy, the prize for the best bunga-bunga performer was to stay the night with Mr Berlusconi. All the other participants were sent off with gifts of €500 and upwards; the winner – the prosecutors claim to have chapter and verse on this, having tapped the phone of Mr Berlusconi's accountant – went home with €10,000.

Was Ms Mahroug a winner? Prosecutors claim, from studying phone records, that she was present at the villa a total of six times between February and April 2010. Circumstantial evidence that she was favoured by Mr Berlusconi is found in the amount of money that she splashed around last year. When stopped by police in September, she was found to have €5,000 in her bag – which she explained as having come from Lele Mora, the showbusiness agent whom prosecutors accuse of having procured prostitutes for Mr Berlusconi.

The circumstantial evidence may be strong, but did Mr Berlusconi have sex with Ms Mahroug? Both deny it, so how will the prosecutors go about proving it? According to La Repubblica, that is not as critical a detail as it may seem. The court has ruled that even if the sex act itself did not occur, what they charmingly term palpitazioni concupiscente – lustful petting – amounts to the same thing. And "bunga-bunga", as Ms Mahroug has explained, certainly involves that.

The woman who allocated the flats in Milano Due and who took care of practical details was said to be a former dental hygienist, Nicole Minetti, who became a regional councillor for Mr Berlusconi's "Freedom People" with his backing. The 14 young women are all aspiring television stars, hopeful that by making themselves available to the Prime Minister they would advance their careers.

Nobody expects Mr Berlusconi to be sent to prison in this case: his lawyers in the past have shown virtuoso skill in spinning out trials and appeals until they are killed by the statute of limitations. But what casts a new and dark shadow on Mr Berlusconi is the seediness of the charge, combined with the unprecedented confidence of the prosecutors.

With no clear successor to Mr Berlusconi, not even the opposition is eager for an election, but his majority is now minuscule. And the new case means he will have even more difficulty bolstering it: however strong his residual popularity with middle Italy, a leader on trial for underage sex is an unappetising ally.

Even people close to Mr Berlusconi admit the sex charge could be explosive. Michele Brambilla, a close Berlusconi ally, wrote in La Stampa yesterday: "Prosecutors ask for an immediate trial when they consider that their proof is evident and definitive, and that there is no need for further investigation or questioning."

If they are right and they do indeed have a "smoking gun", he concluded, "Berlusconi would be in trouble like never before".

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  • Caramberman 1 week ago
    Bunga Bunga! Well I guess Angela Merkel is moving up the list!
  • Hector_Ing 1 week ago

    Burlesque Yoni can double his billions.

    He should dump the prime minister of Italy thing and focus 100% on what he's really good at.

    He's 74 and he can keep 14 hot totties going in a single session - respect Bro.

    He must be using something other than hairspray to keep himself in shape.

    He should patent his stuff and put it in bottles, or pills, or inhalers, or Vegemite, and sell it.


  • I agree that he should "dump the prime minister of Italy thing", but would question his desire to watch as being something to bottle and sell. Most people don't see voyeurism as a desirable hobby, but you may see things differently?

  • You must have led a rather sheltered life Giuseppe....
  • At least I have never fancied myself as a voyeur, nor an onanist...
  • 1J2ackBrian 1 week ago
    What fascinating words, palpitazioni concupiscente. And what an interesting life with apparently, at least 14 glamorous young women - all seeming to be as young as great grandchildren or even great great grandchildren. What next?
  • I trust you are being ironic...
  • All this Berlusconi stuff is disgusting. I am switching my computer off.

    Toodle Oo!
  • DomSpur 1 week ago
    "Mr Berlusconi ... in the 1970s ... was a thrusting young property developer".

    Thrusting indeed!
  • garrafa10 1 week ago
    Berlusconi in his senior years is much like Marcus Porcius Cato, and just as ridiculous.
  • Just two words can be used to describe this situation:

    Man Hero
  • idiot.
  • Following politics and religion in Italy is like reading I Claudius. I wonder if Silvio will perform any miracles after his death so he can be made into a god?... sorry, I meant beatified. By the way Maurizio, I was talking to a pig recently and he's really upset that he should be compared to SB.... even pigs have their dignity. And don't need viagra to make salami sausage.
  • Adam979 2 weeks ago
    Ms Mahroug is bloody hot
  • And last year she was a minor. Still interested?
  • Steady now, I'm not an old fellow like you lol...
  • Well, a desire for under-age girls is usually not seen as a sign of old age - it is usually seen as a perversion. Would you care to offer your defence (assuming you aren't under-age yourself, of course...) for your apparent desire?
  • This is getting a bit weird and sad now.I'm going to assume you're Italian and there's been a bit of a "lost in translation" thing occuring...
  • meshugas 2 weeks ago
    Can it really be possible that Italy doesn't have anyone to replace this wealthy, unfunny clown?
  • Trouble is the left won't unite behind a leader (Nichi Vendola, the governor of the southern Italian region of Puglia) who can challenge him.
  • fabsy77 2 weeks ago
    "the seat of the capo di tutti capi"... lol please.. that's so pathetic really
  • KootenayCoyote 2 weeks ago
    We’re waiting for the Pope’s comments here.....
  • I don't think you can become a politician anymore without having some kind of dirt on you. Then once you refuse to cooperate on a part of the agenda.....BAM !! Your on the front page with hookers
  • Simplicius 2 weeks ago
    You have confused Michele Brambilla (La Stampa journalist) with Michela Vittoria Brambilla (Berlusconi ally and Minister of Tourism).
  • pfbulmer 2 weeks ago
    This may be very titivating for the readers of the independent but it is of no interest to the sophisticated people in Italy two are not interested in the private life of Mr Berlusconi.
    and do not drool over daily mail type revelations . They have too much going on in their own lives to bother about this
    This will prove to be a none event every one Italy knows this is a political stunt that is being organised by the opposition and pull boringly by the same people.
    The key issue in Italy is the decentralisation of the tax collection sytem of the central government in Rome .The aim is to allow the provinces to hold onto 50 per cent of the tax revenue and allow the rest to go to Rome this is known as federalisation but is basically decentralisation of the tax system. This is what this latest political smear is all about .The government has a political majority and will achieve this and if it does the effect on Italy's deficit will be more much more dramatic than the UK attempts to reduce the deficit which has till to be seen !

    (Edited by author 2 weeks ago)

  • No. The key issue for the LEGA NORD is decentralisation, etc. The vast majority of people just want to live in a country for which they can feel some pride and no longer feel they have to apologise all the time for what their leaders say or do.

    The latest political smear is not the sex (forse) or the girls that have used the old man - the key issue is that Berlusconi used his power to further his fantasies with the girls. Abuse of Power. That is what you have to defend him from charges of. They are the charges that are important. It is really only Fede that needs to fear the charges concerning the girls...
  • I believe you are confusing titivating with titillating .... :(
  • orazioale 2 weeks ago
    It is hard to fight against Mr "Citizen Kane", he got the real power, newspapers, tv channels.
    We must raise up, we are italians but not so bad!
  • orazioale 2 weeks ago
    we are fighting against "Citizen Kane"....it is hard to win in this rotten country
  • lorenzino 2 weeks ago
    Hi, i'm italian... I have readed your comments and i feel a big SHAME for my country,
    In Italian many people are hypnotizets by this persons; But NOT ALL!!!!
    There is a part of population that realized he is a liar, a dangerous liar who dreams a South American dictatorship.
    WE ARE NOT ALL EGUAL!!!
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