Deals between Mafia and Berlusconi never proven say judges

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 21 - Deals between the Sicilian Mafia and late three-time premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi that were allegedly hushed up by Mafia convict, former Berlusconi right hand man and ex Senator Marcello Dell'Utri have never been proven, Palermo jhudges said Thursday in rejecting a request to confiscate millions of euro in assets from the ex-Senator and media advertising exec, the brains behind Berlusconi's political creature Forza Italia (FI).
    This thesis of deals "both in the political and criminal fields may sound extremely suggestive" but no evidence of such deals has ever been proven, they said.
    Separately Thursday, a Florence court ordered the confiscation of 10.8 billion euros in assets from Palermo born Dell'Utri, 82, who is serving time for mafia association and other crimes, and from his wife.
    Judges said there was evidence Dell'Utri had got 900,000 euros from the late premier between 2021 and 2023.
    Berlusconi, who once employed a Mafia boss recommended by Dell'Utri as minder against the kidnapping of his children amid a wave of abductions in the 1970s, died last June aged 86 having dominated Italian business and political life for over 30 years.
    (ANSA).