Italian court insists Berlusconi devised tax fraud

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Italian court insists Berlusconi devised tax fraud
By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press | August 29, 2013 | Updated: August 29, 2013 3:06pm

ROME (AP) — Italy's supreme court Thursday defended its decision to uphold the tax fraud conviction of Silvio Berlusconi, saying the evidence was clear that the former premier had devised a scheme to help his media empire pay less tax.

As required by law, Italy's Court of Cassation released a written document explaining its Aug. 1 decision to uphold a guilty ruling by an appellate court. The judges also upheld a four-year prison term and a ban on public office, although they ordered another court to establish the length of the ban.

The center-right leader claims he's the victim of magistrates who sympathize with the left. The Cassation ruling cannot be appealed in Italy, but Berlusconi's backers are scouring the court's 208-page explanation to bolster a planned bid at the European Court of Human Rights.

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The Cassation judges described Berlusconi as the "mastermind of a mechanism" to artificially inflate the amounts paid for film rights by his Mediaset media empire, reducing the company's tax liabilities over a period of years. Rejecting Berlusconi's claim that he wasn't directly involved in the running of Mediaset while in politics, the judges wrote that he was "perfectly" aware of the fraud and its benefits to his company.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Italian-court-insists-Berlusconi-devised-tax-fraud-4770833.php

[blkmusclmachine]

1. Savvy.