Silvio Berlusconi paid £100,000 to trial showgirls

Silvio Berlusconi paid more than pounds 100,000 to glamorous showgirls expected to testify in his "bunga bunga" prostitution trial.

Lawyers for the former Italian prime minister confirmed yesterday (Thursday) that the payments were made, but were quick to deny they were an attempt to sway the testimony of the women.

Bank records obtained by prosecutors show that the billionaire media tycoon paid euros 127,000 (pounds 105,000) to Nicole Minetti, an Anglo-Italian starlet who later became a politician in Milan, and Imma and Eleonora De Vivo, twin showgirls who allegedly attended his parties. All three are due to be called as witnesses in Berlusconi's trial, in which he is accused of paying for sex with an under-age prostitute, a Moroccan-born exotic dancer nicknamed Ruby the Heartstealer, and of abusing his office by trying to have her released from police custody.

The trial, which started a year ago, is ongoing, with the next hearing scheduled for Monday. Both Mr Berlusconi and the dancer, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, deny the accusations.

The De Vivo twins are among more than 30 women whom the ex-premier allegedly paid for sex, according to prosecutors. Mr Berlusconi has said that while he may be "a rascal" he would have had to have the stamina of a 30-year-old to have achieved such a feat.

Miss Minetti, whose mother is a British dance instructor living in Italy, is accused in a separate trial of recruiting prostitutes for Berlusconi's so-called "bunga bunga" sex parties at his mansion outside Milan. She denies the allegations. The next hearing is to be held today.

Berlusconi, 75, has insisted that the parties were just elegant dinners for friends and associates.

Prosecutors found details of the payments when they scrutinised his personal bank account. They were all made in the months after the start of the sex trial, in April 2011, leading to speculation that Berlusconi, who was prime minister until his resignation in November, was trying to pay off witnesses.

The first payment, of euros 42,000, was made to the De Vivo twins through an account held by their father, with a further euros 30,000 paid last October. A sum of euros 15,000 was made to Miss Minetti on October 14 and listed as an "interest-free loan".

A month later the former showgirl, who was allegedly sent to a police station in Milan in May 2010 to take custody of Miss El Mahroug after she was released from custody on theft charges, received a further euros 40,000 from Berlusconi.

Niccolo Ghedini, one of Berlusconi's lawyers, said: "Let's remember that these were sums which were paid out through traceable bank transfers, from a personal bank account of Berlusconi. Linking them to the so-called Ruby trial is absolutely spurious and devoid of any foundation,

"In realty Mr Berlusconi, with his usual generosity, was simply trying to help people who, because of the media storm created by the unsubstantiated judicial proceedings, were experiencing times of great professional and economic difficulty. They were totally lawful."

Miss Minetti and the De Vivos are expected to provide key testimony in the trial. According to a witness, the sisters cavorted in their underwear at one of Berlusconi's raucous parties.

Maria Makdoum, a belly dancer, told prosecutors last year that she went to several private dinners, at the end of which Berlusconi would say to his guests: "Now let's do the bunga bunga." He explained "it was a sexual thing".