Ex- Italian PM, Berlusconi, jailed four years for tax evasion

Former Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has been handed a – four-year jail sentence and barred from office after being found guilty of tax fraud. The Milan court sentenced him on Friday but later cut it to one year because of an amnesty law.

He and others were accused of buying U.S. film rights at inflated prices via two offshore companies under his control.

Berlusconi, who has faced a number of trials, will remain free pending a possible appeal. He has in the past either been cleared, or cases have run beyond the judicial time limit.

In the case for which he was sentenced prosecutors argued that part of the money declared for the purchase of film rights was skimmed off to create illegal slush funds, reducing tax liabilities for Berlusconi’s Mediaset group.

The court handed Berlusconi a longer sentence than the three years and eight months requested by prosecutors.

However, it later announced that the sentence would be cut to one year due to a 2006 amnesty law aimed at reducing prison overcrowding.

It ordered him and his co-defendants to pay 10 million euros (£8m) in damages and banned him from holding public office for three years.  Both the jail term and the ban would only take effect if the sentence is upheld by a higher court, Italian news agency, Ansa reported.

In all, 11 people were on trial. Three were acquitted including Mediaset Chairman, Fedele Confalonieri, a close associate of Berlusconi, and four were cleared because the statute of limitations had run out.

The three others convicted alongside the former prime minister included Hollywood producer, Frank Agrama, who received a three-year sentence.

The trial began six years ago and has been subject to repeated delays, in part because of an immunity law that protected Berlusconi while he was prime minister.

Berlusconi has faced many legal cases over the years.

In February a court threw out a corruption case against him after the statute of limitations had expired. He is also currently on trial charged with paying for sex with an underage girl and trying to cover it up. He denies any wrongdoing.

The 76 years old ex-PM has dominated Italian politics for most of the last 20 years.

He was forced to resign as the prime minister of a centre-right coalition last November, and recently said he had no plans to stand again in elections due next year. He has repeatedly claimed that he is a victim of persecution by a left-wing judiciary.