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Italian former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was the architect of an elaborate series of frauds carried out by his Mediaset television company, according to documents released by the High Court explaining the sentence handed down to the politician earlier this month, writes Il Fatto Quotidiano.
The scam, which involved overvaluing royalty payments for television series and siphoning off excess money to be stashed in offshore accounts, earned the billionaire a one year jail term and ban on holding public office, continues the daily.
Il Cavaliere could lose his senate seat if a September 9 parliamentary committee meeting confirms his conviction makes him ineligible. This would put further pressure on the fragile ruling coalition, made up of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party and the Democratic Party, already shaken by a recent deal to cancel a controversial housing tax.
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