Berlusconi 'unaware party girls were paid'
A businessman who recruited young women to attend parties at Premier Silvio Berlusconi's homes has apologized to the premier for having contributed to a new scandal.
Giampaolo Tarantini also said in a statement late on Saturday that Berlusconi didn't know the expenses were paid, and said he was sorry that something that was meant well had turned into a mess for the premier.
Three women have told the reporters that at Tarantini's invitation they attended parties at the premier's residence last fall and in January.
The first, Patrizia D'Addario, described by her friends as a high-end prostitute from Bari, told Corriere della Sera last week that she was paid euro 1,000 (,400) to attend a party in October 2008 at the premier's residence in Rome, and then returned on Nov 4 and stayed the night.
D'Addario's friend, Barbara Montereale, told the left-leaning La Repubblica that she too attended the Nov 4 party, and then another at Berlusconi's Sardinian villa in mid-January.
For that party, Montereale said she received euro 1,000 from Tarantini and another envelope with cash from the premier himself after she confided she was having problems raising an infant alone. She stressed she wasn't a prostitute and didn't have sexual relations with the premier.
Both said they were offered candidacies in recent local elections in Bari.
A third woman, Lucia Rossini, told Repubblica she also attended the Nov 4 party, though she wasn't paid or offered a candidacy. Both she and Montereale say the premier gave them jewelry.
All three have been questioned by Bari police reportedly investigating Tarantini for alleged improprieties concerning contracts for his health care business.
In the statement, Tarantini said the women's stories were false. He apologized to Berlusconi for having "unwillingly hurt him".
He said he invited the women to the parties because he wanted to present a good impression to Berlusconi. "It's absolutely beyond discussion that Premier Berlusconi could have been aware of my reimbursements" to the women, he said.
日前,意大利一位商人向總理道歉,稱自己是新丑聞的罪魁禍首。之前他被曝招募年輕女郎參加意大利總理西爾維奧·貝盧斯科尼在住所舉行的派對。
在于上周六晚間發(fā)表的聲明中,詹保羅·塔蘭蒂尼還表示,貝盧斯科尼并不知道為此支付了費用,他很抱歉自己好心辦了壞事。
之前,有三位女士向記者曝料稱,應塔蘭蒂尼之邀,她們曾于去年秋季和今年1月前往總理住所參加派對。
第一位女主角是帕特里齊亞·達達里奧,她的朋友形容她是巴里來的高級妓女。在上周接受《晚郵報》記者采訪時,她稱自己曾于去年10月份參加了總理在羅馬住所舉辦的派隊,并收價1000歐元(合1400美元),之后于11月4日“二進宮”并留下過夜。
達達里奧的朋友芭芭拉·蒙特瑞勒在接受左翼《共和報》采訪時稱,她也參加了去年11月4日的派對,此外還參加了今年1月中旬在貝盧斯科尼的撒丁島別墅舉辦的派隊。
蒙特瑞勒稱,塔蘭蒂尼支付給她1000歐元作為派對出場費。在她傾訴稱自己很難獨立撫養(yǎng)嬰兒后,總理自己還給她封了一個紅包。她強調自己不是妓女,也沒有和總理發(fā)生性關系。
二人均稱已獲得了最近舉行的巴里地方大選的候選資格。
第三位是露西婭·羅西尼,她在接受《共和報》采訪時稱,盡管沒有拿到報酬,也沒有得到候選資格,但自己也參加了去年11月4日的派對。她和蒙特瑞勒都聲稱總理送給了她們珠寶。
三人都已接受了巴里警方的調查。據(jù)稱,巴里警方正在調查塔蘭蒂尼在簽署衛(wèi)生項目合同中的不當行為。
塔蘭蒂尼在聲明中稱,這三位女性都在說謊。他向貝盧斯科尼道歉,稱無意中傷害了他。
他稱自己邀請女士參加派對是為了給總理貝盧斯科尼留個好印象。他說:“毫無疑問,總理貝盧斯科尼應該意識到我給她們付了錢”。