Silvio Berlusconi: I have never paid a woman for sex

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Silvio Berlusconi. Photograph: Massimo Di Nonno/Getty Images

From guardian.co.uk

Silvio Berlusconi has denied allegations he paid women for sex, as he continued to be dogged by allegations he has a fondness for young models and starlets.

"I have never paid a woman," Berlusconi told Chi magazine – which he owns – in an interview published today. "I never understood what the satisfaction is when you are missing the pleasure of conquest.

"Previously, he had simply dismissed as "garbage" and a smear campaign reports that an acquaintance had paid at least three women to attend parties at his residences.

The allegations centre on an Italian model, Patrizia D'Addario, who claimed last week she had been paid more than €1,000 to attend a party at his residence in Rome along with other women. D'Addario alleged she eventually spent the night with the prime minister.Berlusconi told the magazine that D'Addario was "very well paid" to make the allegations, which have prompted an investigation in the southern city of Bari into the local businessman accused of recruiting and paying the women.

In a statement to the Ansa news agency, D'Addario denied she had been paid to mount a scandal.

Berlusconi has been on the defensive since his wife, Veronica Lario, announced several weeks ago she was divorcing him, citing his selection of young starlets and showgirls for European parliament elections, and his presence at the birthday party of an 18-year-old model in Naples.

Berlusconi has insisted there was nothing scandalous in his relationship with Noemi Letizia, who he has said was the daughter of an old friend from political circles. He said he went to the party because he happened to be in Naples that day.In the interview, Berlusconi said he was "sad, but serene" over the end of his relationship with Lario. "It was a very painful wound. I don't know if time will be able to cure it." D'Addario's allegations were followed by similar claims by two other women and reports that she had given over to Bari prosecutors audio and video tapes proving her story.

Giampaolo Tarantini, the man being investigated for allegedly abetting prostitution, has said he merely reimbursed the women for their travel and expenses. He said Berlusconi didn't know the expenses were paid.

Berlusconi admitted he knew Tarantini. "He was introduced to me as a serious and respected entrepreneur. Now that he is at the centre of an investigation I think that he should be presumed innocent, like any other citizen involved in a judicial case," he said.

Despite the scandals and criticism, Berlusconi has kept his popularity intact.