Berlusconi cleared of tax fraud, embezzlement charges

A Milan court on Tuesday cleared Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and embezzlement charges related to his private broadcaster Mediaset, but upheld the charges against other officials of the company including Berlusconi's son. According to the judge, Berlusconi was acquitted as there was not sufficient information to convict the prime minister of being directly related to the wrongdoings. The dismissal of the charges came as the latest in a string of positive news for Italy's controversial prime minister. On Friday he narrowly survived a confidence vote that allowed him to cling to power. However, Berlusconi's son and Mediaset deputy chairman, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, and Fedele Confalonieri, the company's chairman, remained implicated in the case. The investigation centers on whether the company illegally juggled its books to avoid paying 35 million euros (about 48 million U.S. dollars) in taxes and fees to the government in a four-year period ending in 2003. Berlusconi denies any wrongdoing on his part or the part of his company, and said the charges were politically motivated. But Tuesday's dismissal does not mean Berlusconi's legal problems are over. The embattled prime minister still faces charges of corruption, influence peddling, bribery, and paying an underage girl for sex. Berlusconi had denied all the above charges.