Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Italy

Bellydancer, 17, says Silvio Berlusconi gave her €7,000

The teenager admits that 74-year-old Berlusconi gave her jewellery and cash but denies sleeping with him.

THE LATEST SCANDAL to visit the door of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s comes in the form of a 17-year-old Moroccan bellydancer – who claims that Berlusconi gave her €7,000.

Karima Keyek (aka Ruby Rubacuori, aka “Stealer of Hearts”) denies sleeping with the 74-year-old premier but says that he gave her jewellery and €7,000 in cash.

Berlusconi allegedly gave the teenager the gifts during the course of an evening on Valentine’s Day held at his mansion in Milan.

Keyek told La Repubblica:

It the first time in my life that a man has not tried to take me to bed. He behaved like a father, I swear.

She says that Berlusconi had asked her to stop coming to see him when he discovered that the was 17 and not, as she had claimed, 24 years old, The Guardian reports. Keyek said:

Berlusconi said he had had enough problems in the past with another underage girl.

The girl told Oggi magazine:

Silvio took me upstairs. He wanted to help me. He told me that he wouldn’t ask anything in return. He gave me an envelope with €7,000 in it and I told him I dreamed of gaining Italian citizenship and becoming a policewoman.

Berlusconi was publicly shamed last year, when his second wife Veronica Lario accused him of “frequenting minors”. Lario vowed to leave him after he attended the 18th birthday party of model Noemi Letizia. He claims, however, that the teenager was a family friend.

The Prime Minister has denied another accusation linked to the Keyek case, namely that he pressured police in Milan to release her after she was arrested on suspicion of stealing €3,000 from a friend in May.

Your Voice
Readers Comments
3
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.