Exposed: Berlusconi's harem of 14 women

Exposed: Berlusconi's harem of 14 women

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reportedly maintained a harem of 14 glamorous young women in apartments in a gated complex outside Milan.

Silvio Berlusconi reportedly maintained a harem of 14 glamorous young womenThe women lived rent-free in the estate and were given large sums of cash by the billionaire Italian politician in return for sex, The Independent reported, citing leaks from prosecutors in Milan.Milano Due was one of the first gated housing estates in Italy, a sprawling complex of apartments set in landscaped gardens, built by Berlusconi himself in the 1970s when he was a thrusting young property developer.With underground parking , a supermarket, bars and other facilities, it is one of the most fashionable addresses in the Milan hinterland.When Berlusconi moved into television he located the headquarters of Mediaset, his TV company, here.Its presence was revealed by Corriere della Sera newspaper Sunday in yet another blow to the battered image of the Prime Minister as he prepares to defend himself against what could be the gravest crisis of his political career.Prosecutors in Milan are demanding that he be put on trial immediately for having sex with an underage prostitute.The existence of the flats was revealed by Karima El Mahroug, a 17-year old belly-dancer from Morocco who trades under the name of Ruby Rubacuori (Ruby heart-stealer).

Karima El Mahroug aka Ruby Rubacuori (Ruby heart-stealer)She ruined Berlusconi's summer last year when it emerged he had contrived to have her sprung from police custody after she was suspected of theft.He told police they were holding the granddaughter of President Mubarak of Egypt. As a prosecutor in Milan remarked subsequently: "If she's Mubarak's granddaughter, I'm Queen Nefertiti."The dancer admitted to prose! cutors t hat she had attended erotic evenings hosted by the Prime Minister at one of his homes.But now lawyers have taken advantage of the partial lifting of Berlusconi's immunity from prosecution to summon him for trial on a charge of having sex with the dancer when she was 17.Sex with a prostitute under 18 is punishable by up to three years in jail.Berlusconi does not deny hosting "relaxing parties" at his various grand homes, at which numerous young women, including showgirls, TV weather girls, escorts and prostitutes, were brought in to have dinner and listen to his jokes.That those parties culminate in so-called "bunga-bunga" games, in which the women put on topless costumes and compete to see who can perform the hottest sex show, became known whenRuby blurted it out to prosecutors last year.Berlusconi tried to stem the flood of revelations by having his lawyers round up other participants in the parties and get them to agree that none had had sex with him, and that the parties were innocuous.But three participants escaped their net, and it is their evidence that is crucially damaging for the PM.According to one, a graduate in law and economy, the prize for the best bunga-bunga performer was to stay the night with Berlusconi.All the other participants were sent off with gifts of 500 (RM2,039) and upwards; the winner - the prosecutors claim to have chapter and verse on this, having tapped the phone of Berlusconi's accountant - went home with 10,000 (RM40,791).
Source: The IndependentPublished Jan 17 2011