Berlusconi gave me cash after sex, claims teenage Moroccan model

LONDON - A teenage Moroccan model has apparently claimed that she had sex with Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in return for a cash ‘gift’.

According to Italian press reports, the girl - identified only as Ruby and allegedly an illegal immigrant - has claimed that she had consensual sex with the prime minister at his luxury villa in Arcore, outside Milan, reports the Telegraph.

Prosecutors have reportedly opened a dossier on the claims but not a formal investigation. They stressed that Berlusconi is not under investigation and that they are trying to verify the woman’s account of the alleged encounter.

However, Il Giornale, the newspaper owned by Berlusconi’s brother, described the allegations as a potential “sex scandal” and another “D’Addario case” - a reference to Patrizia D’Addario, the prostitute who last year claimed that she slept with the prime minister at his mansion in Rome.

Magistrates cautioned that the Moroccan woman’s claims might be without foundation and could be part of a plot to blackmail the 74-year-old premier, or an attempt at self-promotion by the aspiring showgirl.

The teenager, who is now 18, claims that she attended several private parties thrown by Berlusconi at his home between last year and this Spring, at a time when she was trying to break into modelling or television.

She was part of a circle of aspiring models and actresses who were allegedly introduced to the prime minister by a prominent show business agent, Lele Mora, although he has denied all knowledge of the case.

Investigating magistrates said her accounts were sometimes contradictory and that she had made claims, which she subsequently retracted.

The story emerged when she was thrown out of an apartment in Milan after an argument with her Brazilian flatmate in May, the Italian press reported.

She was stopped by police, who found she had no residence permit, but pleaded for leniency on the basis that she knew the prime minister, and proceeded to tell them of her alleged encounter.

One of the magistrates in charge of the case, Antonio Sangermano, has experience in investigating prostitution and extortion cases, but on Wednesday refused to comment on the claims.

A member of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party dismissed the story and predicted that it would prove to be untrue. (ANI)