Request to indict Italian PM in tax fraud case

An Italian judge is conducting a closed-door hearing today on a request by prosecutors to indict Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on charges of false accounting, tax fraud and embezzlement in connection with the purchase of TV rights by his media empire, news reports said.

No decision was expected in the hearing, which was largely devoted to technicalities of the request, according to the ANSA and Apcom news agencies.

Berlusconi reportedly did not attend, and his lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

Prosecutors allege that Berlusconi’s Mediaset media company purchased TV rights for US movies before 1999 through two offshore companies and falsely declared the costs to lower the tax bill. They are seeking indictments for 12 other people, including Mediaset SpA chairman and longtime Berlusconi associate Fedele Confalonieri.

Berlusconi and the others deny the charges.

The case is one of several investigations into the business magnate, who is Italy’s richest man and depicts himself as the victim of politically motivated magistrates.

In other cases, Berlusconi has either been acquitted or the charges have been dropped because the statute of limitations expired.

Judge Fabio Paparella started hearing the case late last month. Today he heard a request by Berlusconi’s lawyers to have the proceedings transferred to another city, the reports said.

Lawyers contend that more than 60 judges in Milan are or have been shareholders in Mediaset, and therefore cannot be considered impartial. Prosecutors insist the proceedings should remain in Milan.