Berlusconi probed for breaking probation

(ANSA) - Milan, April 20 - The Milanese prosecutor-general has asked to see documents in the ongoing so-called Ruby-ter perjury investigation to determine whether ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi violated probation in a separate case - for tax fraud involving Mediaset - by committing new criminal acts that overlapped with his serving his social service sentence. The prosecutor's office has indicated that Berlusconi may have paid off through February 17 of this year witnesses who were involved in a trial that saw Berlusconi acquitted of sex with an underage prostitute. The prosecutor's office believes that Berlusconi paid the so-called 'Olgettine', the women who participated in sex parties in his residence at Arcore, for silence on the witness stand.
    Berlusconi is accused, along with 21 witnesses - including 'Ruby', the alleged underage prostitute - of corruption in judicial acts. Berlusconi served a sentence of 10 and a half months probation and social service, ending March 8, for his conviction in a tax fraud case involving Mediaset. At a hearing on April 14, the surveillance court ruled that Berlusconi's sentence had been served.
    The attorney general's office is now examining whether to challenge the Probate Court's decision.