Marcello Dell'Utri was imprisoned on charges of mafia association Photo: Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
Silvio Berlusconi left 30 million euros to an old friend who was convicted of having links with the mafia, and 100 million euros to his girlfriend.
The contents of the will of the former prime minister became known on Thursday, and one of the main beneficiaries was Marcello Dell. Utri is a former senator for Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia party.
He has been accused of being a key link between the three-time prime minister and the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia.
Mr. Dell Utri, 81, ran Berlusconi's advertising agency and was one of the founders of Forza Italia.
Accused of having links with the mafia, he fled Italy in 2014 but was arrested in Beirut on an Interpol warrant. He served four years in prison and another year under house arrest after being convicted on charges of mafia ties and forging links in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s between Cosa Nostra bosses in his native Sicily and enterprises owned by Berlusconi.
< p>He has always denied the allegations.
Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy, who died last month Photo: FLAVIO LO SCALZO/Reuters
Mr Dell'Utri expressed his deep gratitude to the former Prime Minister, who died last month at the age of 86 from leukemia and a state funeral was held in the historic cathedral of Milan.
“Since this morning, all I have done is cry: not so much because of a material gesture, but because it shows the greatness of a person,” the former senator said. “I didn’t expect this because he doesn’t owe me anything. I gave everything for him, and he gave everything for me.”
He said Berlusconi, a billionaire businessman who entered politics in the 1990s, was “like a brother to me.”
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“We have known each other for over 60 years. He has always helped me. Even at the university, he gave me his notes,” Dell’Utri said.
Political Defense
Rumors have circulated for decades that Berlusconi made a deal with Cosa Nostra, initially as a guarantee that they would not kidnap his children and ransom them, as happened to other wealthy Italians. It was then alleged that he gave Cosa Nostra political protection in exchange for them collecting votes for him in southern Italy.
Berlusconi left an even larger amount of money – 100 million euros – to Marta Fashina, a 33-year-old woman . a one-year-old MP with whom he has been in a relationship for several years.
Last March, the couple held a symbolic, legally binding wedding ceremony in which Ms Fascina wore a white wedding dress.
Marina Berlusconi (left) and Marta Fascina (right) arrive at the state funeral of Silvio Berlusconi. Photo: MATTEO CORNER/ShutterstockLast September, she gave him a birthday surprise with thousands of heart-shaped balloons. were released from a balloon, and a plane flew past with a banner that said: “Happy birthday dear, I love you. March.
Luigi de Magistris, a centre-left politician and former prosecutor, tweeted that the wills of “mafia Del Utri” and Ms. Fascine are like a “soap opera.”
“I think of the poor people, the youth who kill themselves, working, but will barely survive until the end of the month,” he added.
Berlusconi's net worth at the time of his death was estimated at about 6 billion euros. . In his will, he also gave 100 million euros to his younger brother Paolo.
Business empire
He passed on his huge business empire to his five children, and his two older children, Marina and Pier Silvio, equal shares in the family holding company Fininvest for a total of about 53%.
They both already held senior positions in various sectors of his business empire.
Berlusconi's other assets include Monza. a football club and a portfolio of luxury real estate, from a mansion outside of Milan to a villa on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, where he hosted leaders such as Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin.
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