The Milan prosecutor's office has evidence that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hooked up with prostitutes he kept in rent-free luxury apartments, according to a document made public on Monday.
Italian magistrates on Friday announced an inquiry into the relationship between Mr Berlusconi and an underage girl, known as Ruby, as the Prime Minister was still reeling from a court ruling partially stripping him of political immunity.
"A significant number of young girls prostituted themselves with Silvio Berlusconi in his residences in exchange for sums of money," the city prosecutor wrote in a document asking the Chamber of Deputies for permission to raid various premises linked to Mr Berlusconi.
The prosecutor claims to have obtained "ample proof" that would warrant a probe into the addresses which the Mr Berlusconi, 74, lent rent-free to young women who attended parties thrown at his residence near Milan.
The document cites statements by Ruby, now 18, in which she claims "certain young women who attended these [parties] were given free use of apartments in Milan Due", a residential area built by Mr Berlusconi's Fininvest group.
Moroccan-born Ruby, whose real name is Karima el-Mahroug, "frequented Berlusconi's Arcore residence [in Milan] between February and May 2010", according to the public prosecutor, who says there is evidence to prove this, including mobile phone traces.
Parts of the document, which have not been released to the public, include wire taps ordered by Milan's prosecutors of conversations between Ruby and her friends, excerpts of which were released by ANSA news agency on Monday.
"Silvio won't stop calling me ... He says: 'Ruby, I will give you all the money you want, I will cover you with gold, as long as you conceal everything. Don't say a word to anyone,'" Ruby is quoted as saying.
"My case is known all over the world. I've spoken with Silvio and I told him that I want to come out of it with something, with five million [euros]. Five million for having dirtied my name."
Prosecutors last week ordered police to search the offices of Mr Berlusconi's trusted sidekick Giuseppe Spinelli, who manages the Prime Minister's Fininvest holdings and is suspected of unwittingly handling money for Mr Berlusconi's prostitutes.
The raid failed because police did not have the correct search warrant for the offices, considered part of Mr Berlusconi's domain. On Monday, prosecutors submitted a formal request for permission to search the premises.
If found guilty, Mr Berlusconi could receive up to three years in prison for prostituting a minor and up to 12 years for practising graft. In a video message released on Sunday, the Prime Minister raged against the "laughable, unfounded accusations", saying he had "had a stable relationship" since splitting up with his wife, Veronica Lario, in 2009.
While members of Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom party complained their boss was a victim of the media, rising star of the political left Nichi Vendola called for the Prime Minister's immediate resignation.
The Prime Minister, a billionaire business magnate, on Saturday slammed the opening of the court probe into his relationship with Ruby as one more plot against him by the country's judges.
Mr Berlusconi, a notorious womaniser, admits he is "no saint" but has said he never paid for sex. Both he and Ruby, a disco dancer, have denied having had sexual relations.
[Source : Kompas]
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