The prostitute at the centre of the sex scandal involving Silvio Berlusconi says that the Italian Prime Minister offered her a seat in the European Parliament.
Patrizia D’Addario made the claim in an interview published in the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
It followed the release of audio tapes and transcripts last week that purportedly revealed intimate conversations recorded while the couple were having sex.
Mr Berlusconi was criticised strongly this year for proposing a string of attractive female candidates with no political experience, including a soap opera actress and a contestant on the reality-television show Big Brother, to run in the European Parliament elections held in June.
After an outcry led by his estranged wife Veronica Lario, all but one of the women, Barbara Matera, were dropped from the ballot for his People of Freedom party.
In the interview published yesterday, Ms D’Addario discussed the two occasions late last year when she was invited by the businessman Gianpaolo Tarantini to attend the Prime Minister’s official residence.
Ms D’Addario said that the only guests at the first dinner, in mid-October, were Mr Berlusconi, Mr Tarantini and about 20 young women. “It was obvious to me that we were all escort girls. Mr Berlusconi asked the girls if they’d like to work in television, go into politics or to take part in Big Brother (aired by one of his television channels),” Ms D’Addario said.
She said that Mr Tarantini, who is being investigated by prosecutors for alleged corruption and abetting prostitution, paid her €1,000 (£865) and that Mr Berlusconi was to give her another “pay cheque” if she stayed the night with him on November 4.
Ms D’Addario said that she made the second visit to the Palazzo Grazioli, but that the Prime Minister did not pay her. Instead, he promised to help her to resolve an issue over a building permit in the southern city of Bari.
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