WOMEN guests at the infamous “Bunga Bunga” parties in the Arcore, Milan, private residence of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi were handsomely paid to stay behind and have sex with the media tycoon, according to evidence given in court yesterday by Moroccan model Imane Fadil.
Ms Fadil (27) is one of the key prosecution witnesses in the ongoing “Rubygate” trial in which Mr Berlusconi (75) stands accused of “abuse of office” and involvement in “underage prostitution”.
Yesterday’s hearing was by far the most dramatic of the trial so far in that it heard accusations, which until now had been the subject of media reports and speculation, firmly repeated in court.
Ms Fadil described a much-reported dance routine by Lombardy regional councillor and former TV showgirl Nicole Minetti, in which Ms Minetti and another guest, model Barbara Faggioli, did a striptease routine at a Bunga Bunga party at Arcore in February 2010.
“We were standing at the bar,” she said, “while Faggioli was doing a routine in the Bunga Bunga room. After 10 minutes, she disappeared with Minetti and then they came back, dressed in a black habit, complete with a crucifix and a white collar and they did a performance I didn’t expect. They did a sort of Sister Act in which they stripped off down to their underwear.”
Ms Fadil, who claims she was paid €5,000 and €2,000 respectively for attending parties at Arcore, said there was often naked dancing at the parties.
On one occasion, another guest, Iris Berardi, did a poll dance routine, dressed in an AC Milan football shirt and wearing the mask of then AC Milan footballer, Brazilian Ronaldhino. Her routine, not surprisingly, ended with the removal of the shirt. AC Milan is owned by Mr Berlusconi.
Ms Fadil, who claims she twice declined invitations to spend the night at Arcore, said other young women were not so reticent, staying behind to have sex with Mr Berlusconi.
“The girls were always complaining, they were worried about sexual diseases. But despite that, they all desperately wanted to spend the night because that way they earned more money.”
Ms Fadil’s testimony was corroborated by Ambra and Chiara, two aspiring models who had been invited to Arcore by former TV news editor and long time Berlusconi ally, Emilio Fede.
Ms Fadil also claimed she had been approached by a stranger, who wanted to “organise a meeting with Mr Berlusconi”, as recently as last June.