Italian model says Ruby offered him 4,000 euros for sex

Milan, June 16 (IANS/AKI) A male model said at the "bunga bunga" sex trial for former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi that he was offered 4,000 euros by teenage Moroccan nightclub dancer Ruby to have sex with her.

"Ruby, who I put up for two nights at my home, said she'd give me 4,000 euros if I had sex with her," Antonio Passaro told the court Friday.

The 75-year-old Berlusconi is on trial for having sex with an underage prostitute, and abuse of office over his alleged relations with Moroccan-born Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug.

Passaro, who met El Mahroug in 2009, denied having any knowledge about her alleged encounters with Berlusconi in May 2010, when she was 17.

"I only learned of this from media reports," Passaro told the court.

Passaro, a former dancer whose stage name is "Manuel", told prosecutors how he met El Mahroug at a Milan nightclub and how she allegedly became obsessed with him.

When they met, El Mahroug told Passaro she was 25 and was a belly-dancer from the northern Egyptian port city of Alessandria, he said.

"I didn't believe a word she said," Passaro said, claiming he had to move house to escape her unwelcome attentions that included bombarding him with phone-calls.

"I didn't report her for stalking though, as she was clearly needy and I felt sorry for her," Passaro said.

El Mahroug and Berlusconi deny they had sex.

But Michelle Conceicao, a Brazilian female model who attended the parties and is a witness in the trial, told Italian weekly Espresso that Berlusconi definitely had sex with El Mahroug and paid her 5,000 euros for it.

Conceicao said Berlusconi telephoned her last month and asked her to lie about his encounter with El Mahroug when she appears in court later this month.

According to prosecutors, dozens of showgirls and aspiring starlets received cash and other gifts for taking part in sex games at Berlusconi's Milan home.

--IANS/AKI

pm

null