(ANSA) - Rome, January 15 - Ex-premier and centre-right
leader Silvio Berlusconi on Sunday denied that the sale of his
AC Milan soccer club to a Chinese group had "hidden" an illicit
return of capital into Italy.
Speaking on the flagship Sunday afternoon variety and talk
show of his biggest TV channel, the three-time former premier
said "every time there are election campaigns and a victory of
mine is in the offing, they invent everything under the sun, and
this time they invented one that was promptly denied by
prosecutors."
In a long interview with 'Sunday afternoon chat queen'
Barbara D'Urso, media magnate Berlusconi said "the fact that
someone took advantage of the Milan sale to bring back capital
into Italy not only doesn't correspond to the truth, but doing
so would mean you aren't smart".
Earlier Sunday Milan prosecutors denied a report by Turin
daily La Stampa that the Milan sale to the Chinese was under
investigation.
But the daily confirmed the news report.
Berlusconi's daughter Marina, head of his Mondadori
publishing group, said the Berlusconi family was "indignant and
astounded"
Berlusconi denies AC Milan sale (2)
'Electoral attack' says ex-premier and former Milan owner