Berlusconi family vs. bunga bunga showgirls: the cash payments row

The fall-out from the 'bunga bunga' sex parties scandal haunted Silvio Berlusconi until his death – and it continues to plague those involved. 

The former Italian prime minister and billionaire media mogul, who died in June aged 86, gave long-term monthly payments and free housing to about 20 models and dancers who attended his parties. He said it was to compensate them for "reputational damage" they suffered from the scandals and criminal trials that followed. 

But his five children have stopped the €2,500 monthly payments that Berlusconi promised each of the women, Reuters cites two legal sources as confirming. 

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Berlusconi's family are also reportedly attempting to evict the women "who for years have been living in accommodation at his expense", said The Times. 

Two women have received a letter telling them to leave the housing provided by Berlusconi before the end of the year. At least one woman, Alessandra Sorcinelli, has "vowed to fight the decision", said The Daily Telegraph, and plans to sue the Berlusconi children for €3 million.

What is the background?

Berlusconi's final years were "marred by allegations of corruption", said The Independent, and "sordid tales of so-called 'bunga bunga' sex parties being staged at his lavish Villa San Martino" in Arcore, near Milan. Berlusconi also allegedly paid young women to strip and entertain him at his homes in Rome and Sardinia. 

The scandal broke when Berlusconi phoned a police station in 2010 to request that a 17-year-old dancer from Morocco, known as "Ruby the Heart Stealer", be released from custody after she was accused of stealing. 

His intervention led prosecutors to investigate his relationship with the underage girl, whose name was Karima El Mahroug. She told police that Berlusconi had explained the concept of "bunga bunga" to her, a "harem that he copied from his friend [Libyan dictator Muammar] Gaddafi, in which the girls take their clothes off and have to provide physical pleasures". 

Although Berlusconi always insisted that the parties were "elegant dinners", prosecutors identified 33 young women who said they had attended the gatherings and been "paid for sex". The scandal led to his resignation as prime minister in 2011, and spawned three criminal trials.

Berlusconi was initially convicted of paying a minor for sex and sentenced to seven years in prison, but the conviction was overturned on appeal and he was acquitted. Prosecutors also accused him of bribing the witnesses to lie for him, which he denied, and after years of legal wrangling he was acquitted in February this year.

What is the latest?

The women who lived in his properties were "among 24 defendants who were acquitted along with Berlusconi in February", said the Daily Mail. Berlusconi said in 2013 that the monthly allowance he paid the women was to help them after their reputations were damaged. But Italian prosecutors claim the benefits were a reward for lying in court during 12 years of trials. 

Lawyers for one woman resisting eviction, Barbara Guerra, have released a recording of Berlusconi giving her the right to use a property in Bernareggio, near Milan, but specifying that he would only give her outright ownership once the trial was over "to avoid suspicions of bribery", according to Rome-based writer Philip Willan for The Times. 

"I promise you on my five children," he is recorded as saying, "a loan for use immediately and as soon as the trial is over, and our lawyers give us the all clear, I will put it in your name."

Sorcinelli, meanwhile, lives in a villa outside Milan that she claims Berlusconi promised she could remain in for the rest of her life. She told the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday that her arrangement was similar to that of Guerra. 

"The contract dates back to 2015 and has no expiry date," she said. "It is part of the agreement that the prime minister signed for me and Barbara Guerra which refers to a sum of money to compensate us for the damage that we suffered. It amounts to three million euros."

Sorcinelli said she and other women had recorded many of their conversations with Berlusconi "so as to protect ourselves for the future".

What next?

According to Italian media outlets, the Berlusconi children are also trying to evict Marta Fascina, Berlusconi's partner, from Villa San Martino – their family home. Fascina, 33, a Forza Italia MP, was left €100 million in Berlusconi's will.

A third trial concerning allegations of corruption and perverting the course of justice is due to conclude at the Italian Supreme Court in March.

Sorcinelli said she expected that the Berlusconi children would "want to close this matter without leaving frustrated and angry people forced to sue to protect their rights".