Hong Kong evidence may be key in linking Berlusconi to fraud case
Prosecutors will use 16,000 pages of documents from city to prove former Italian premier's guilt
A huge body of evidence from Hong Kong delivered to Italian prosecutors could plunge the country's former premier Silvio Berlusconi back into the legal quagmire.
Some 16,000 pages of evidence gathered in the city allegedly link Berlusconi - who turns 77 tomorrow - to a major fraud and money-laundering case. Prosecutors submitted the evidence, seized in Hong Kong in January 2007, to a Milan court on Tuesday, the South China Morning Post has learned.
Lawyers for two Hong Kong businesswomen, Paddy Chan Mei-yiu and Katherine Hsu May-chun, who are accused of being linked to the scandal, lost their fight to prevent the transfer of the documents to Italy in August.
The Italian court is now hearing allegations that Berlusconi's son, Pier Silvio, the two Hong Kong women and eight others colluded in a multimillion-dollar scheme involving the fraudulent sale of television rights to the former premier's media conglomerate Mediaset.
On August 1, Berlusconi was found guilty of tax avoidance over the sale of TV-show rights and sentenced to four years' jail . This was commuted to a year under house arrest or in community service. The tycoon has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
On Thursday, prosecutors asked that the case files leading to Berlusconi's conviction last month be included in evidence in the current trial. They also plan to submit further evidence to substantiate claims made by former senator Sergio De Gregorio, which have linked Berlusconi personally to the case.
De Gregorio claimed he had been informed of the details of the investigation into Berlusconi by Italy's consul general to Hong Kong in 2007. Police were handed documents from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday to substantiate the claims.