Berlusconi allies found guilty of procuring prostitutes

The three Berlusconi allies were sentenced to between five and seven years in jail by a court in Milan.

Talent agent Lele Mora, television host Emilio Fede, and Nicole Minetti, a former showgirl-turned politician who says she was in love with Berlusconi, were accused of arranging orgies at his villa near Milan, picking girls “like tasters of fine wine”.

Prosecutors also alleged that they had gained financial advantages because they “knew the secrets” of what had gone on during those parties.

Among the girls they allegedly recruited was Karima el-Mahroug, known as Ruby the heart-stealer. Last month Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in jail and barred from public office after he was found guilty of paying for sex with her, and abusing his office to cover it up.

Bunga bunga

Both deny that they slept together for money, and Berlusconi is appealing against the sentence. He claims the bunga bunga parties at his house were just elaborate dinners, with girls taking part in burlesque dancing as entertainment.

But this was not the only court hearing which Berlusconi was involved with today. Judges in Naples have been holding a preliminary hearing into allegations that he bribed a senator with 3m euros to join his party and help bring down the government led by his rival, Romano Prodi.

Prosecutors say Sergio De Gregorio, who crossed the floor shortly after the 2006 election which handed Prodi’s coalition a wafer-thin majority, was “paid off”.

And later this month, Italy’s highest criminal court will rule on a conviction against Berlusconi for tax fraud involving his Mediaset empire. If it is upheld, he could end up with another edict barring him from public office for two years, as well as a possible prison term.

And that could have consequences for Italy’s fragile coalition government, which could be in trouble if there is yet another verdict against him. Earlier on Friday, Berlusconi’s top man in the government, interior minister Angelino Alfano, only just managed to survive a no-confidence vote.