Silvio Berlusconi was embroiled in fresh controversy yesterday as prosecutors opened an inquiry into allegations that showgirls were paid to attend parties at his villa in Sardinia and his residence in Rome.
ANSA, the Italian news agency, confirmed that the prosecutor’s office in Bari in southern Italy was seeking to establish whether payments to women to attend “private residences in Rome and Sardinia” had involved “induction into prostitution”.
The Italian Prime Minister had hoped to repair his battered image by portraying himself as an international statesman. On Monday he met President Obama in Washington before the G8 summit he is hosting in the city of L’Aquila next month.
However, no sooner had he returned to Italy than fresh allegations emerged about his private life.
Corriere della Sera, Italy’s most authoritative newspaper, reported on an investigation into alleged corruption involving contracts for the supply of equipment to hospitals in the Bari area by Tecnohospital, owned by two brothers, Giampaolo and Claudio Tarantini. Investigators said that in tapped telephone conversations Giampaolo Tarantini had referred to payments to women to attend parties given by associates, including Mr Berlusconi. Reports said Mr Tarantini owned a villa at Porto Rotondo on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, close to Mr Berlusconi’s seaside estate, and had known him “for some years”.
Continue ...
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento