Italy’s top court threw out a case against the British lawyer convicted of taking a bribe from Silvio Berlusconi, a verdict that could kill charges against the Italian Prime Minister in a related case.
The ruling by the nine-man Court of Cassation came after a prosecutor had told judges that the charges against David Mills should be dropped under Italy’s statute of limitations because too much time had elapsed since the alleged bribe was paid. However, the court ordered Mr Mills to pay €250,000 (£220,000) to the Italian state for “damaging” its image.
The prosecution said that the payment of $600,000 (£390,000) dated to 1999, but the defence argued that the transfer of the money — which it described as a “gift” — took place in 2000, when Mr Mills drew on the funds and used them for a mortgage. Charges in bribery cases lapse after ten years. The verdict means that a related corruption case against Mr Berlusconi, which was due to resume tomorrow, will almost certainly be dropped.
Mr Mills, 65, the estranged husband of Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, was found guilty last year of accepting a $600,000 bribe from Mr Berlusconi to give false testimony on the Prime Minister’s behalf in corruption trials in the 1990s. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison but never served any time. Both men deny the charges.
The trial against Mr Berlusconi for giving the bribe was revived after his immunity from prosecution was ruled unconstitutional last October. He faces two cases, one for allegedly bribing Mr Mills and a second for alleged tax fraud involving his Mediaset television company. He is pushing through parliament Bills to restore his immunity and to annul the cases against him.
Mr Mills said: “I am very relieved that this saga has finally now come to an end and happy to be able to get back to a normal life again.”
Opposition politicians voiced outrage at the ruling. “The expiration of the statute of limitations does not erase the crime. This verdict is a moral conviction for the Prime Minister. The corruption happened and in a civilised country the Prime Minister would have stepped down,” said Massimo Donadi, an opposition MP.
The ruling comes as Mr Berlusconi faces regional elections next month which are seen as a test of his popularity and the strength of his governing coalition, which has been mired in corruption scandals.
Mr Mills used to advise Mr Berlusconi on offshore tax havens. Evidence included a 2004 letter from Mr Mills to Bob Drennan, his accountant, in which he admitted that he had received a “gift”. He wrote that he had “turned a few tricky corners, to put it mildly” while giving evidence which had “kept Mr B. out of a great deal of trouble he would have been in had I said all I knew”.
Mr Mills at first confirmed the contents of the “Dear Bob” letter to prosecutors, but later retracted it and claimed the money had come from Diego Attanasio, a Naples shipping magnate and another of his clients.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7041737.ece
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