Source:
Associated PressCourt orders Berlusconi investment company to pay rival €560 million in corruption case
By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, July 9, 3:46 AM
MILAN — Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s family investment company has been ordered to immediately pay €560 ($797) million to a rival media group for alleged corruption in the acquisition of the Mondadori publishing company.
A Milan appellate court upheld a lower court’s 2009 sentence in a ruling Saturday but reduced the damages from €750 million.
Berlusconi came under fire this week when he introduced a measure into Italy’s austerity budget that would have allowed the Fininvest investment company to delay payment until the final appeal. Berlusconi hastily withdrew the measure under political pressure.
The civil damage award stems from a case in which three Berlusconi associates were convicted of corrupting a judge to overturn a ruling in favor of industrialist Carlo De Benedetti in the struggle for control of Mondadori.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/court-orders-berlusconi-investment-company-to-pay-rival-560-million-in-corruption-case/2011/07/09/gIQAN3u34H_story.html