Silvio Berlusconi is accused of maintaining a harem of 14 young women in apartments near Milan. Prosecutors claim he gave the women large sums of cash in exchange for sex. Evidence suggests one 17-year-old attendee, Karima El Mahroug, received more favorable treatment than others. Berlusconi is facing trial for allegedly paying Mahroug for underage sex. If convicted, he could face up to 3 years in prison. The case has further weakened Berlusconi's political position as he lacks a clear successor.

1. Silvio Berlusconi's harem of 14 women revealed
- 17 January 2011
Was Ms Mahroug a winner? Prosecutors claim, from studying phone records, that she was present at
the villa a total of six times between February and April 2010. Circumstantial evidence that she was
favoured by Mr Berlusconi is found in the amount of money that she splashed around last year.
When stopped by police in September, she was found to have EUR5,000 in her bag - which she
explained as having come from Lele Mora, the showbusiness agent whom prosecutors accuse of
having procured prostitutes for Mr Berlusconi.
Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi maintained at least 14 glamorous young women in
apartments in a gated complex outside Milan, leaks from prosecutors in the city revealed yesterday.
They lived rent-free in the estate and were given large sums of cash by the billionaire politician in
return for sex.
Mr 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.
The existence of the flats was revealed by Karima El Mahroug, a teenage belly-dancer from Morocco
who trades under the name of Ruby Rubacuori, "Ruby heart-stealer". She ruined Mr Berlusconi's
summer last year when it emerged that he had contrived to have her sprung from police custody
after she was suspected of theft. He told police they were actually 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."
Mr 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.
The circumstantial evidence may be strong, but did Mr Berlusconi have sex with Ms Mahroug? Both
deny it, so how will the prosecutors go about proving it? According to La Repubblica, that is not as

2. critical a detail as it may seem. Check out artice writer andrea king's online site .The court has ruled
that even if the sex act itself did not occur, what they charmingly term palpitazioni concupiscente -
lustful petting - amounts to the same thing. And "bunga-bunga", as Ms Mahroug has explained,
certainly involves that.
If they are right and they do indeed have a "smoking gun", he concluded, "Berlusconi would be in
trouble like never before".
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 when Ms
Mahroug blurted it out to prosecutors last summer.
The dancer admitted to prosecutors that 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 the Mr
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.
The woman who allocated the flats in Milano Due and who took care of practical details was said to
be a former dental hygienist, Nicole Minetti, who became a regional councillor for Mr Berlusconi's
"Freedom People" with his backing. The 14 young women are all aspiring television stars, hopeful
that by making themselves available to the Prime Minister they would advance their careers.
Even people close to Mr Berlusconi admit the sex charge could be explosive. Michele Brambilla, a
close Berlusconi ally, wrote in La Stampa yesterday: "Prosecutors ask for an immediate trial when
they consider that their proof is evident and definitive, and that there is no need for further
investigation or questioning."
A Moroccan girl nicknamed Ruby - allegedly linked to Silvio Berlusconi - attends a party in a disco in
Genoa, Italy (AP)
Silvio Berlusconi
Karima 'Ruby' El Mahroug, who is at the centre of allegations that Silvio Berlusconi paid for
underage sex, denies she slept with the Italian premier.
Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi
FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 file photo Moroccan girl nicknamed Ruby attends a party in a
disco in Genoa, Italy. Italy's leading newspaper is reporting that Premier Silvio Berlusconi is under
investigation in a prostitution case involving a then-17-year-old Moroccan girl. Corriere della Sera
reported online Friday, Jan. 14, 2011, that the 74-year-old premier is suspected of abusing his power
in trying to cover up his alleged encounters with the girl, nicknamed Ruby. Berlusconi's office said it
had no immediate comment. (AP Photo/str, File)
By Peter Popham
According to one, a graduate in law and economy, the prize for the best bunga-bunga performer was
to stay the night with Mr Berlusconi. All the other participants were sent off with gifts of EUR500
and upwards; the winner - the prosecutors claim to have chapter and verse on this, having tapped
the phone of Mr Berlusconi's accountant - went home with EUR10,000.

3. With no clear successor to Mr Berlusconi, not even the opposition is eager for an election, but his
majority is now minuscule. And the new case means he will have even more difficulty bolstering it:
however strong his residual popularity with middle Italy, a leader on trial for underage sex is an
unappetising ally.
Most Read in this section
Milano Due was one of the first gated housing estates in Italy, a sprawling complex of flats set in
landscaped gardens, built by Mr 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 he moved. When you would prefer
better research in regards to SITE TOPIC GOES HERE visit , instantly.into television, Mr Berlusconi
located the headquarters of Mediaset, his television company, here.
Nobody expects Mr Berlusconi to be sent to prison in this case: his lawyers in the past have shown
virtuoso skill in spinning out trials and appeals until they are killed by the statute of limitations. But
what casts a new and dark shadow on Mr Berlusconi is the seediness of the charge, combined with
the unprecedented confidence of the prosecutors.
But in his declining years the estate has also become the headquarters of what is, in effect, his
harem, it is alleged. Its presence was revealed by Corriere della Sera newspaper yesterday 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.