Audio Tapes Show Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi Cavorting With Prostitutes

It would seem that Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been busier calling up escorts to take pictures of themselves in his bathroom and playing meat spin with friends at his Villa Certosa than actually having a hand in ruling Italy. His latest scandals include the release of audio tapes secretly recorded by professional escort Patrizia D’Addario, who spent at least two nights at the PM’s home in Rome. Roman hands, Russian fingers and all that.

Berlusconi, who is married, denied rumors that he’d hire a prostitute, saying he does not understand paying for sex without the “thrill of the conquest.”

Some highlights from the tape include Berlusconi complimenting D’Addario and another woman on their lingerie, asking who will be ready in “Putin’s bed” when he’s out of the shower, and commenting on the fact that they “didn’t even scream” when D’Addario says she’s lost her voice.

D’Addario also recorded a conversation she had with Giampaolo Tarantini, a friend of Berlusconi’s who is also under investigation on suspicion of corruption and abetting prostitution:

D’Addario: We didn’t close our eyes all night.

Tarantini replies: I can imagine, how did it go?

D’Addario: Good, but there was no pay cheque.

Tarantini: Really?

D’Addario: I swear. How come? You told me that there would be a pay cheque. He gave me a small gift, I don’t know what, a little turtle.

That’s what she said. So, why was D’Addario prompted to record her … date… with Berlusconi in the first place? Perhaps she had some inclination that she’d be promised money but only get a poke from a little turtle for all her trouble. 

But, of course, is she has no evidence of having been paid or having been promised payment (beyond Tarantini’s “Really?”), how can she prove she was promised money in exchange for sex? 

Silvio Berlusconi in new sex scandal after ‘escort girl’ audio tapes are posted on internet [Daily Mail]