Silvio Berlusconi paid £100,000 to showgirls due to testify in trial

The De Vivo twins are among more than 30 women whom the ex-premier allegedly
paid for sex, according to prosecutors.

Mr Berlusconi has said that while he may be “a rascal” he would have
had to have the stamina of a 30-year-old to have achieved such a feat.

Miss Minetti, whose mother is a British dance instructor living in Italy, is
accused in a separate trial of recruiting prostitutes for Mr Berlusconi’s
so-called “bunga bunga” sex parties at his mansion outside Milan.

She denies the allegations. The next hearing in that trial is to be held on
Friday.

Mr Berlusconi, 75, has insisted that the parties were in fact just “elegant
dinners” for friends and associates.

Prosecutors found details of the payments when they scrutinised his personal
bank account.

They were all made in the months after the start of the sex trial, in April
2011, leading to speculation that Mr Berlusconi, who was prime minister
until his resignation in November, was trying to pay off witnesses.

The first payment, of 42,000 euros, was made to the De Vivo twins through an
account held by their father, with a further 30,000 paid in October last
year.

A sum of 15,000 euros was made to Miss Minetti on Oct 14 and listed as an “interest-free
loan”.

A month later the former showgirl, who was allegedly sent to a police station
in Milan in May 2010 to take custody of Miss El Mahroug after she was
released from custody on theft charges, received a further 40,000 euros from
Mr Berlusconi.

“Let’s remember that these were sums which were paid out through
traceable bank transfers, from a personal bank account of Mr Berlusconi.
Linking them to the so-called Ruby trial is absolutely spurious and devoid
of any foundation,” said Niccolo’ Ghedini, one of Mr Berlusconi’s
lawyers.

“In realty Mr Berlusconi, with his usual generosity, was simply trying to
help people who, because of the media storm created by the unsubstantiated
judicial proceedings, were experiencing times of great professional and
economic difficulty. They were totally lawful.” Miss Minetti and the De
Vivos are expected to provide key testimony in the trial.

According to testimony provided by a witness, the sisters cavorted in their
knickers and bras at one of Mr Berlusconi’s raucous parties.

Maria Makdoum, a belly dancer who attended one of the gatherings, told
prosecutors last year, she went to several private dinners, at the end of
which Mr Berlusconi would say to his guests: “Now let’s do the bunga
bunga.” He explained that “it was a sexual thing”.

Mr Berlusconi has assumed a low profile since the pressures of Italy’s
economic and financial crisis forced him to step down five months ago, but
has said that he wants to remain as a “father figure” to his
conservative People of Freedom party.

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