‘New under-age girl in Berlusconi scandal’

Iris Berardi is alleged to have visited Silvio Berlusconi twice before she was 18

James Bone Rome

Last updated January 28 2011 12:01AM

The woman at the centre of Italy’s sex scandal broke her silence yesterday as new allegations emerged about Silvio Berlusconi, including relations with another under-age prostitute.

Nicole Minetti, 25, whose British mother Georgina Reed is a dance teacher in the beach resort of Rimini, has been summoned to appear before Milan prosecutors on Tuesday to answer charges that she recruited prostitutes for the Prime Minister.

Prosecutors revealed new phone taps of Ms Minetti in which she called Mr Berlusconi an “old man”. A 227-page dossier lodged by prosecutors with Parliament also showed that 12kg of cocaine had been seized from a man who had been using Ms Minetti’s car.

“I’m not here to play the role of the two-bit madam,” Ms Minetti told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. “Anyone who knows me, knows who I am.”

The former dental hygienist, who became a TV showgirl and a politician in the Prime Minister’s party after treating him as a patient, could decide the fate of the Italian leader. But Mr Berlusconi telephoned a late-night TV talk show and praised Ms Minetti.

Ms Minetti said that she had been moved by the Prime Minister’s unprompted defence. “I would have liked to thank him because it was a nice gesture on his part,” she said. “Let’s just say that now is not the best time to do so.”

In phone taps lodged with Parliament by prosecutors, however, Ms Minetti complained that Mr Berlusconi was just trying to save himself. She was recorded refusing to attend a meeting allegedly organised by Mr Berlusconi, for the young female guests at his parties to talk to his lawyers.

“No, because . . . I have to talk to my lawyer. I’m under investigation. For me, things are different,” Ms Minetti said in a phone intercept. “If he wants to see me, he can call himself, but if I go, I’ll go with my lawyers.”

Ms Minetti also featured in new allegations about the cocaine, confiscated from the boyfriend of Marystelle Polanco, a dancer who said that she slept with Mr Berlusconi because he paid her daughter’s medical bills. Ms Minetti had lent her car to Ms Polanco while she was on holiday in the Seychelles. Because of the drug allegations, she is thought to have considered reporting the car stolen.

The scandal escalated yesterday, with new revelations that a second alleged under-age prostitute visited the homes of Mr Berlusconi.

Iris Berardi, a Brazilian, twice visited Mr Berlusconi’s properties before her 18th birthday — the legal age for prostitution in Italy — the documents showed. She visited Villa Certosa in Sardinia on November 21, 2009, when the Prime Minister was in Saudi Arabia. She also allegedly spent the night at his Villa San Martino, outside Milan, on December 13, 2009, the evening that Mr Berlusconi was hit in the face with a statuette. Ms Berardi turned 18 on December 28, 2009.

Mr Berlusconi is already under investigation by Milan prosecutors for allegedly paying for sex with Karima El Mahroug, a Moroccan belly dancer, sometimes known as “Ruby Heart-Stealer”. Prosecutors said they did not plan a separate inquiry into the Prime Minister’s links with Ms Berardi.

In earlier extracts from the prosecutors’ dossier another belly dancer described Mr Berlusconi’s “bunga-bunga” parties, alleging sexual antics between him and young women.

A parliamentary committee has refused Milan prosecutors permission to search the office of Mr Berlusconi’s accountant, who admitted paying Ms El Mahroug at least €8,500 (£7,300).