“..Mob Turncoat Alleges Berlusconi Has Ties To Mafia..”
“.. A convicted mob hit man testified Friday that he was told Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi made a deal with the Mafia in the 1990s ..
.. offering unspecified benefits .. in exchange for political support.
Berlusconi has denied the allegations, which have set off the latest storm to rattle the scandal-plagued premier.
Gaspare Spatuzza testified as a prosecution witness in the appeals trial of Sen. Marcello Dell’Utri ..
.. a close political associate of Berlusconi who was convicted in 2004 of ties with the Sicilian Mafia and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Berlusconi is not formally involved in the trial.
Spatuzza, who is serving a life sentence for several murders, told the court that in 1993 he was told by his boss, Giuseppe Graviano ..
.. that the mob had made a deal with Berlusconi that would provide “benefits” to the Mafia in exchange for the mob’s support in elections.
The media mogul entered politics a few months later and won his first term as premier in 1994 elections.
Headline-grabbing reports of Spatuzza’s claims have been swirling for days ..
.. and most of his two-hour testimony was carried live by Italy’s Sky TV.
The attention and credibility given to the statements prompted prosecutors last week to clarify that they were not investigating the premier..”
go to source/story>>Gaspare Spatuzza, Mob Turncoat, Alleges Berlusconi Has Ties To Mafia