Prosecutors have discovered bank records which show that he gave Alessandra Sorcinelli money last Monday – three days after the latest sex scandal surrounding him broke.
But despite the constant flow of lurid stories surrounding the Italian Prime Minister, polls show he is more popular than ever among voters.
The payments started last year and averaged £8,500 a month – a figure Miss Sorcinelli, 26, refers to in a text message to Mr Berlusconi’s aide, Giuseppe Spinelli, which read: ‘May I urgently remind you of the 10,000 euro bank transfer.’
The documents then detail a payment from Mr Berlusconi’s account at Segrate near Milan into one in Miss Sorcinelli’s name at the Bank of Sardinia in the city.
According to the paperwork, the money was called a ‘non interest-earning loan’."
