On October 15, 2010, Italian prosecutors launched a tax inquiry against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for tax declarations he made in 2003 and 2004 relating to the commercial broadcast company, Mediaset, which Belusconi founded. Prosecutors accused him of inflating the price of film rights sold to companies that belonged to him, and then selling those rights back to Mediaset for less money, allowing the company to reduce its revenues and pay less in taxes. Berlusconi denied the charges as frivolous, but a trial related to the inquiry began in September 2011. The Prime Minister has been a defendant in more than 50 trials, including three related to claims of corruption and one alleging he paid a 17-year-old Moroccan girl for sex.



Silvio Berlusconi

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