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Berlusconi's brother fined for 'corruption'

The Local Italy
The Local Italy - [email protected]
Berlusconi's brother fined for 'corruption'
Paolo Berlusconi and Societa Europea Golf have been fined more than €11 million. Photo: Olivier Morin/AFP

Silvio Berlusconi's younger brother Paolo Berlusconi, and a company called Società Europea Golf (SEG) have been slapped with a fine of more than €11 million for corruption in relation to the construction of a golf course in 1993.

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The fine is more than double the amount they were charged at a previous ruling in 2009 and includes accounting interest and revaluation, according to a report in Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Milan’s civil appeals court upheld the earlier ruling and ordered Berlusconi and SEG to pay the fine to the municipality of Pieve Emanuele, a town on the outskirts of Milan, after being found guilty of obtaining permits to build the golf course through bribes.

Part of the fine will also be paid by the former politicians involved in the bribery. The Tolcinasco golf club was built in 1993.

Paolo Berlusconi, the editor of Il Giornale newspaper, which is seen as a mouthpiece for his elder brother and his People of Freedom party, said he would appeal the case to Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation.

The former premier’s sibling, who is also vice-president of AC Milan, sparked controversy earlier this year after using a racist slur to describe footballer Mario Balotelli. Berlusconi insisted he was being affectionate when he referred to Balotelli as a "negretto" - meaning "little black boy" or "little Negro" - during a television interview. Berlusconi said that what he said was an "affectionate expression that led to a stupid media circus".

In 2002, he was also convicted of false accounting and given a nine-month sentence.

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