Former premier Silvio Berlusconi
was placed under investigation Thursday for allegedly paying
money to four more young women - Elisa Toti, Aris Espinosa,
Miriam Loddo and Giovanna Rigato - until recently to keep mum
about the true nature of his bunga bunga sex parties in the
so-called Ruby III case, la Repubblica daily reported.
In the case, last month Milan prosecutors requested the media
mogul's indictment on charges of witness tampering.
The leader of the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party is
accused of bribing key witnesses in the Ruby III trial against
him to the tune of 10 million euros.
A preliminary hearings judge on October 19 indicted former
exotic dancer Karima El Mahroug - stagename Ruby Heartstealer -
and 22 others for corruption and perjury in the case.
That trial began on January 11.
The case against Berlusconi is being dealt with separately
after he was unable to attend an October hearing on the grounds
that he was in the United States for a check-up after undergoing
heart surgery earlier in 2016.
In the first trial linked to the case, Berlusconi was
convicted of paying Ruby for sex while she was a minor, but was
acquitted on appeal on the grounds that there was no proof he
knew she was under 18 at the time.
El Mahroug was at the centre of the "bunga-bunga" sex-party
scandal that hit Berlusconi while he was still premier.
The other 22 defendants include El Mahroug's former lawyer
Luca Giuliante, journalist Carlo Rossella and Senator
Mariarosaria Rossi (FI).
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