ITALY: Prosecutors in Milan are tomorrow expected to ask a judge to put the husband of British minister Tessa Jowell on trial on a corruption charge alongside Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister.
David Mills, who is already facing money laundering and tax evasion charges, left the couple's home in north London shortly after his lawyer announced their separation on Saturday, and is understood to have flown to Florida to visit his son. He has left a series of new and embarrassing allegations in his wake.
Almost every British newspaper carried fresh revelations over the weekend about his controversial career as a corporate lawyer and tax specialist. The Guardian disclosed on Saturday that he formed a company whose directors included a man who was the key intermediary between Mr Berlusconi's corporate empire and the Mafia.
Yesterday's batch of allegations included the revelation that Mr Mills made a €99,000 (£68,000) profit from buying shares in a pub chain at a time when Ms Jowell was involved in a review of licensing laws and was considering whether to ban smoking from pubs; allegations that he was condemned, in a briefing paper prepared by the British Serious Fraud Office as a "hypocrite" who had made "false statements"; and claims that he had made use of his wife's status as a minister when responding to a Revenue & Customs investigation into his tax affairs.
Mr Mills denies all the charges he faces in Italy and any wrongdoing in his tax affairs and any other business dealings.
Another leak from the Italian investigation contained allegations that the Serious Fraud Office was concerned at the difficulties it met in attempting to recover documents on behalf of the prosecutors in Milan. Some were alleged to have been shipped to Malta, while others were said to have been "sent to the Isle of Man and have never been retrieved".
The allegation that Mr Mills had raised his wife's status during a tax investigation prompted Tory MPs to question whether he had received special treatment. During the investigation, Mr Mills said he had received €510,000 (£350,000), which he initially said came from Mr Berlusconi, and now maintains came from another Italian client. The money - which was used to help pay a €910,000 (£625,000) mortgage on the couple's London home - had not been declared to the taxman.
Earlier in the week it emerged that Mr Mills had referred to his wife's status and claimed the "support and sympathy" of the prime minister in dealings with financial regulators in Dubai. Questions were also asked yesterday about the single mother living on a council estate in London who is recorded as a director or company secretary of 19 companies which Mr Mills established on behalf of his Italian clients. Mr Mills was also linked to a corrupt land deal involving the convicted criminal whom he now insists was the source of the €510,000 (£350,000) payment. - (Guardian service)
