Silvio Berlusconi: the parties, the trinkets, the cash

He has made no secret of his love of women but the sex scandal surrounding Silvio Berlusconi is now threatening to topple him, as more claims emerge of the systematic recruitment of young women paid to attend private parties at his homes in Rome and Sardinia. With weeks to go before he hosts the G8 summit the Italian Prime Minister, 72, is facing new allegations, including claims by a Bari escort girl who says that she has recorded footage of herself in the billionaire’s bedroom. Now another woman has come forward, this time claiming that she was paid to attend the Prime Minister’s private parties after going through a hostess service, allegedly operated by a local businessman. In an interview with The Times Barbara Montereale said that Mr Berlusconi gave her €10,000 (£8,500) “as a present” after attending one of his parties at Villa Certosa. She also claims to have received an attendance fee of €1,000, paid by his alleged fixer, Giampaolo Tarantini. Miss Montereale, 23, also claimed that Patrizia D’Addario, the escort girl at the centre of the scandal, told her she had had sex with Mr Berlusconi. Speaking from her home in Modugno, Bari, Miss Montereale said she first met Mr Berlusconi when she attended a dinner at Palazzo Grazioli, his residence in Rome, in November. She was among three women, including Ms D’Addario and Lucia Rossini, another woman from Bari who has also been questioned by prosecutors. They had been invited and introduced to the Prime Minister, she said, by Mr Tarantini, a businessman from Bari, who is under investigation for corruption and abetting prostitution. “Everyone at the dinner knew Patrizia was an escort,” she said. “I was meant to be sharing a room with Patrizia at the hotel that night. I slept there alone. When she came back at 8am she told me she had been to bed with him [Berlusconi] but that he hadn’t paid her because she had asked for a favour instead.” That favour is alleged to have been help pushing through a building project which had stalled. “My nickname is long thighs. I am not an escort. I am an image girl, a hostess. Appearing at nightclubs, parties, chatting with clients,” Miss Montereale said. Asked why the women were invited to dinner, she said: “We were not there because we were all friends. That first time I wasn’t paid, as I went to accompany Patrizia, but after meeting Giampaolo we agreed that for the next parties he would pay me as a hostess. We agreed ¤1,000, per party, per dinner.” Mr Tarantini has denied paying girls for hostess services, and publicly apologised to the Prime Minister for having caused “any involuntary damage”. Mr Tarantini also said in a statement to the Italian news agency Ansa that he only reimbursed the women for their travel and expenses. Mr Berlusconi has dismissed the allegations, saying that they are part of a smear campaign.

Continue ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6550609.ece