Silvio Berlusconi sentenced to four years for tax fraud
23 replies, posted
[quote][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/p745U.jpg[/IMG][/quote]
(Thanks to Smurfy for the pic)
[quote=BBC][B]Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud.
[/B]
Mr Berlusconi and others were accused of buying US film rights at inflated prices via two offshore companies under his control.
The former prime minister is expected to appeal against the verdict.
He has faced a number of trials connected to his business affairs, but has either been cleared or cases have run beyond the judicial time limit.
In the case for which he was sentenced on Friday, prosecutors alleged that part of the money declared for the purchase of film rights
was skimmed off to create illegal slush funds, reducing tax liabilities for Mediaset, one of Mr Berlusconi's companies.
The court handed Mr Berlusconi a longer sentence than the three years and eight months requested by prosecutors.
The trial began six years ago.[/quote]
[quote=Story Highlights from CNN]
Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for tax fraud
He is likely to appeal the sentence handed down by the Milan court
He resigned as prime minister last November over his country's debt crisis
Berlusconi has survived a series of legal cases over the years
[/quote]
[B]​Update[/B]
[quote=Update from BBC]
[B]Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been handed a jail sentence and barred from office after being found guilty of tax fraud.[/B]
The Milan court sentenced him to four years but later cut it to one year because of an amnesty law.
Mr Berlusconi condemned the sentence as "intolerable judicial harassment". He will remain free pending appeals.
He and others were accused of buying US film rights at inflated prices via two offshore companies under his control.
It is the first time Mr Berlusconi - who has faced a number of trials - has been convicted of any crime concerning his business activities.
He has in the past either been cleared, or cases have run beyond the judicial time limit.
In 1997 he received a suspended sentence for false book-keeping but that conviction was reversed on appeal.
In the case for which he was sentenced on Friday, prosecutors argued that part of the money declared for the purchase of film rights was skimmed off to create illegal slush funds, reducing tax liabilities for Mr Berlusconi's Mediaset group.
The court handed Mr Berlusconi a longer sentence than the three years and eight months requested by prosecutors. However, it later announced that the sentence would be cut to one year due to a 2006 amnesty law aimed at reducing prison overcrowding.
It ordered him and his co-defendants to pay 10m euros (£8m) in damages and banned him from holding public office for three years.
Both the jail term and the ban would only take effect if the sentence is upheld by a higher court, Italian news agency Ansa reported.
"It is a political, incredible and intolerable judgement," Mr Berlusconi said on Italia 1 - one of the TV stations he owns.
"It is without any doubt a political verdict just as all the cases invented against me are political."
In all, 11 people were on trial.
Three were acquitted including Mediaset chairman Fedele Confalonieri, a close associate of Mr Berlusconi, and four were cleared because the statute of limitations had run out.
The three others convicted alongside the former prime minister included Hollywood producer Frank Agrama, who received a three-year sentence.
The trial began six years ago and has been subject to repeated delays, in part because of an immunity law that protected Mr Berlusconi while he was prime minister.
[B]
Sex case
[/B]
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says Mr Berlusconi is unlikely ever to serve his sentence as the conviction first has to be confirmed by two successive courts of appeal.
The appeals could take years, he adds.
In February a court threw out a corruption case against him after the statute of limitations had expired.
He is also currently on trial charged with paying for sex with an underage girl and trying to cover it up. He denies any wrongdoing.
Mr Berlusconi, 76, has dominated Italian politics for most of the past 20 years.
He was forced to resign as the prime minister of a centre-right coalition last November, and recently said he had no plans to stand again in elections due next year.
He has repeatedly claimed that he is a victim of persecution by a left-wing judiciary.
Mr Berlusconi is not the first Italian prime minister to be convicted of a crime.
Bettino Craxi, a socialist who helped Mr Berlusconi to build his media empire, fled the country in 1994 to avoid imprisonment in a corruption trial and died in exile in Tunisia.
[/quote]
[quote=BBC Analyses]
[B]Analyses[/B]
[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48373000/jpg/_48373845_000086495.jpg[/IMG]
Silvio Berlusconi is down but not out as a result of his conviction and sentencing for tax fraud.
But the verdict had an immediate effect on his personal fortunes. Shares in his flagship MediasetTV company
slumped by 3% on the Milan stockmarket.
Mr Berlusconi's active political career can however be considered terminated by the successful conviction.
He had already announced earlier in the week that he was stepping down as leader of his Freedom Party and will not be offering
himself for re-election as prime minister in next year's general election.
The Italian media mogul has spent the greater part of the past two decades drawing up legislation designed to ensure his impunity
in various current criminal cases in which he has been charged with crimes of corruption.
It is ironic that the reduction in his sentence from four years to one year is due to an amnesty decision by a rival centre-left government
in 2006, aimed at reducing Italy's prison population.
[/quote]
[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20102215"]Source 1[/URL]
[URL="http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/26/world/europe/italy-berlusconi-convicted/index.html?hpt=hp_t1"]Source 2[/URL]
Tax fraud is the worst thing they could convict him of? Better than nothing I guess.
I bet he can't wait for all the bunga bunga parties he's going to have in prison.
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;38192999]Tax fraud is the worst thing they could convict him of? Better than nothing I guess.[/QUOTE]
Al Capone was done for Tax Evasion. They probably take what they can at this point
Cool.
Now actually get the shithead behind bars and the world is gonna be a slightly better place.
Bet he will have a comfy stay.
Will he be able to just pay himself out though?
[QUOTE=Gears of duty;38193097]Will he be able to just pay himself out though?[/QUOTE]It'd be fairly conspicuous to the entire world, and a massive embarrassment for the Italian government, if Berlusconi just bribed his way out of prison.
Love Al-Jazeera's picture for this
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/p745U.jpg[/IMG]
An Italian bad guy who we all know is guilty of many things but in the end only gets done in for tax bullshit?
Yo, Chicago called, they want Capone back.
If he spends even a day in prison, I'll eat my beard.
Wow, I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to squeeze himself out of prison inside a year.
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;38193677]Wow, I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to squeeze himself out of prison inside a year.[/QUOTE]
I dunno, he would have to lose a lot of weight
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;38192999]Tax fraud is the worst thing they could convict him of? Better than nothing I guess.[/QUOTE]
Reminds me of this-
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kYI5FAV9EQ[/media]
It has already been reduced to one year, what the fuck.
[b]BERLUSCONI'S SENTENCE WAS CUT IMMEDIATELY[/b]
[QUOTE=HS]
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ruling has been drastically reduced.
Milan court sentenced to four years in jail for tax fraud on Friday. Right after that the right to cut the judgment of one year imprisonment. Surgery dates back to the 2006 amnesty law, which aims to reduce the number of prisoners in prisons.
This case involves Berlusconi's Mediaset company purchased the film rights. Prime Minister's television empire is suspected bought in the 1990s at a premium broadcast rights to two other Berlusconi's company.
The judgment will come into effect once the appeal court has confirmed it.
Ex-Prime Minister pleads not guilty. He was not present in court when the judgment was read, but his lawyers said he considered the judgment "completely unbelievable." He is expected to appeal to a.
Milan court denied Berlusconi in addition to holding public office for three years of treatment.
Berlusconi is accused of corruption also, separately, the purchase of sex a minor prostitute and official abuse. Berlusconi was forced to resign as prime minister in November last year.
On Wednesday, Berlusconi, 76, announced that he would not stand for election to Parliament in sham next year.
[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/Berlusconin+tuomiota+leikattiin+heti/a1305610100125[/url]
I used google translator
I smell bullshit + corruption in the court
how the fuck
[QUOTE=KlaseR;38194068]how the fuck[/QUOTE]
Berlusconi
He's had a lot of court cases to practice with
Ah fuck it, he'll be out in a couple of months or even less anyway. As usual.
[QUOTE=KlaseR;38194068]how the fuck[/QUOTE]
His (second, I think) government created an amnesty law in 2006 that reduces sentences when certain conditions are met. Those conditions were met, so he gets a reduction. This is just first grade, there's still the appeal and a good chance that the sentence will get longer. Btw, he is still under investigation for abetment, corruption and other amenities.
At least his political days are over.
[QUOTE=BreenIsALie;38193062]Al Capone was done for Tax Evasion. They probably take what they can at this point[/QUOTE]
Or maybe you can only sentence Italians for tax evasion.
Due to him being over 70 a judge can decide he doesn't need to serve his sentence at all under Italian law
Updated the OP with more info that came in
They should send him to Southtown correctional Facility.
It may not be a long time, but it will be a [I]hard time.[/I]
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