Lawyers revive Berlusconi fraud case
The long-running saga of legal action against former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi flickered into life again today.
A Milan prosecutor laid a new charge of false accounting against him in a move that prevents the fraud case from being struck off because of the length of time from the original case starting.
The case involves the purchase by Berlusconi’s Mediaset empire of rights for TV movies.
Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale filed the new charge against Berlusconi and four other defendants related to financial reports for 2000 that were made public in 2001.
“This is unfounded,” Berlusconi’s lawyer Nicolas Ghedini said. “It refers to a period during which (Berlusconi) wasn’t involved in the company. He was in politics.”
Already the statute of limitations had expired on many of the charges and is set to expire on remaining counts against Berlusconi by October 20 Mr Ghedini said.
Prosecutors say Mediaset purchased TV rights for US movies before 1999 through two “offshore” companies and falsely declared the costs to reduce the tax bill.
Berlusconi has a long history of legal troubles linked to his Milan-based business interests.
To date, he has either been acquitted or seen cases against him dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. He has always maintained his innocence.
