ROME — Italian prosecutors are looking into a newspaper report alleging that two Italians offered cash to a Moroccan official to change the birth certificate of the teenage girl at the center of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's prostitution scandal.
Berlusconi faces trial on charges he paid for sex with a Moroccan girl nicknamed Ruby, who at the time was a minor. Il Fatto Quotidiano, a leftist newspaper opposed to Berlusconi, said two Italian men traveled to Morocco in February and sought to bribe a registry office employee into changing Ruby's year of birth from 1992 to 1990.
Berlusconi has denied wrongdoing. His lawyers have filed a complaint to Rome prosecutors, saying they feared a setup.
ANSA reported the prosecutors opened the investigation Monday.
Intimate details of the alleged sex scandalinvolving Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a Moroccan teen dancer are beginning to find their way into the international press.
Ruby is said to have received two Rolex watches, one of which was worth $68,306.
Though Berlusconi had already given her two Rolexes, Ruby allegedly claims she was also given a Dolce & Gabbana Swarovski crystal designer watch "because I told him that I didn't like the Rolex watches."
Ruby also allegedly picked a $20,495 diamond necklace made by Recarlo, a Valenza-based design jeweller which provided rings that Berlusconi gave to 24 women MPs and 13 Senators at Christmas.
For Valentine's Day, Berlusconi allegedly gave Ruby a Valentino dress encrusted with Swarovski pearls in honor of their first meeting.
Versace designer heels are just one of the gifts listed
.
One of the Tiffany diamond bracelets bought by Berlusconi was even allegedly engraved with the initials of her nickname, R.R. for Ruby Rubacuori, or "Ruby the Heartbreaker."
Though Ruby had allegedly been promised an Audi R8, it was never delivered.
According to the Telegraph, Ruby visited a Helen Yarmak store to determine how much a red fox fur stole the Italian premier had given her was worth. "I knew after taking myself to the store in Via Torino that it cost [$24,594]," she told prosecutors.
Ruby says Berlusconi also gave her an expensive "brooch" which was bought on Via Montenapoleone, Milan's premier shopping street. "In fact he told me I should not have a very low neckline, so the brooch helps to cover me up," she told the Telegraph.
Newly released is a list of 24 uber-extravagant presents -- to the tune of a cool $322,648 -- that the Italian premier is said to have given to Karima El-Mahroug, better known as "Ruby the Heartbreaker" and believed to be just 17 years old at the time of the alleged affair.
As the Telegraph is reporting, among the spectacular goodies are two Rolex watches, a pair of Versace heels, a diamond necklace worth $20,495 and a red fox fur stole worth $24,594. In addition to the glamorous cache, Berlusconi is said to have promised Ruby a sporty Audi R8, but ultimately never delivered.
Check out just some of the many gifts Berlusconi is alleged to have given Ruby below:
Ruby is said to have received two Rolex watches, one of which was worth $68,306.
Though Berlusconi had already given her two Rolexes, Ruby allegedly claims she was also given a Dolce & Gabbana Swarovski crystal designer watch "because I told him that I didn't like the Rolex watches."
Ruby also allegedly picked a $20,495 diamond necklace made by Recarlo, a Valenza-based design jeweller which provided rings that Berlusconi gave to 24 women MPs and 13 Senators at Christmas.
For Valentine's Day, Berlusconi allegedly gave Ruby a Valentino dress encrusted with Swarovski pearls in honor of their first meeting.
Versace designer heels are just one of the gifts listed
.
One of the Tiffany diamond bracelets bought by Berlusconi was even allegedly engraved with the initials of her nickname, R.R. for Ruby Rubacuori, or "Ruby the Heartbreaker."
Though Ruby had allegedly been promised an Audi R8, it was never delivered.
According to the Telegraph, Ruby visited a Helen Yarmak store to determine how much a red fox fur stole the Italian premier had given her was worth. "I knew after taking myself to the store in Via Torino that it cost [$24,594]," she told prosecutors.
Ruby says Berlusconi also gave her an expensive "brooch" which was bought on Via Montenapoleone, Milan's premier shopping street. "In fact he told me I should not have a very low neckline, so the brooch helps to cover me up," she told the Telegraph.
The alleged falsification appears to be an attempt to make her appear not to have been a minor when Berlusconi allegedly paid to have sex with her.
Rome prosecutors did not immediately respond to CNN questions about the case.
Authorities allege that Berlusconi had a liaison with 17-year-old Karima el Mahroug, nicknamed "Ruby the heart-stealer," last spring during parties at his villa -- which both deny.
Berlusconi is scheduled to stand trial in April on charges that he paid the underage girl for sex and abused his position as prime minister by trying to get her out of police custody, which he also denies.
The Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano reported last week that someone had tried to falsify the birth records.
Berlusconi's lawyer, Nicolo Ghedini. said in a statement that he asked Rome prosecutors to investigate the allegation that two Italian "emissaries" had visited a birth-registry official in Morocco, where el Mahroug was born, and offered bribes to make the young dancer seem older.
The dancer's age is significant because it is illegal to have sex with a prostitute in Italy only if she is a minor.
Ghedini suggested in the statement that he requested the investigation to establish that Berlusconi had nothing to do with any attempt to change birth records.
"We are dealing with something that tries to surreptitiously damage gravely Prime Minister Berlusconi, who is completely estranged to any eventual illegal action," the prime minister's lawyer said in a statement.
Berlusconi has been tried on at least 17 charges since his first term as prime minister began in 1994, but none of the cases have resulted in lasting convictions. Several were overturned on appeal
Rome (CNN) -- An Italian sex scandal that spawned nationwide demonstrations over the premier's alleged abuse of power and paying an underage girl for sex began at a dinner party in Milan with a Moroccan-born dancer nicknamed "Ruby Heartbreaker."
The dancer -- Karima El Mahrough -- was 17 years old at the time of the alleged sexual encounter with Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, according to prosecutors in Milan.
The leggy performer -- who has since appeared in scantily clad photographs across the country -- told the Italian news channel Sky TG24 that she had lied about her age before meeting Berlusconi for a dinner party at his private residence near Milan.
"He knew that I was 24 years old because I told everyone that I was 24 years old," she said. "I didn't want people to know
It was during that first encounter on Valentine's Day in 2010 that El Mahrough said she received 7,000 euros (about $9,300) after a friend informed Berlusconi that she needed help.
Both have denied allegations of having sex.
"Absolutely no," said El Mahrough. "I just arrived in Milan and it was a little difficult living there," claiming Berlusconi gave her the money to help support herself financially.
The friend "spoke with (Berlusconi) and explained my situation, my story, my family situation," she said. "And he helped me."
But an investigation into their relationship burgeoned after the prime minister later urged police to release her after she was arrested on theft charges.
El Mahrough said that following the arrest she was visited by dancer Michelle Oliveira and regional lawmaker Nicole Minetti, whom prosecutors have tried to link to the allegations against the prime minister.
El Mahrough said Minetti then called Berlusconi "to explain how things went," handing her the phone "so that I could thank him."
In their conversation El Mahrough described the premier as "bitter" because "he had allowed someone to enter his house trustingly."
"I didn't know about this famous call of the premier to the police," El Mahrough told Sky TG24. "I learned it from the newspapers."
Investigators say they later questioned the dancer's former roommate, who claimed El Mahrough had confided in her, describing the details of her sexual relationship with the Italian premier.
Berlusconi, 74, denied allegations surrounding his relationship with El Mahrough as well as his alleged abuses of power, arguing that his phone call to police was a case of mistaken identity.
His party has argued that Berlusconi believed El Mahrough was a relative of then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and that he called the police station on her behalf to avoid a possible diplomatic crisis with Egypt.
But little is known about the dancer whose involvement in the scandal helped catalyze demonstrations against Italy's premier and his penchant for dinner parties attended by "pretty girls," according to local media reports and accounts by lawmaker Minetti.
El Mahrough reportedly told Italian talk show "Kalispera" -- owned by Berlusconi -- that she was a victim of child abuse and became a runaway before landing a job dancing at nightclubs.
The scandal has made El Mahrough, now 18, a national figure.
Meanwhile, Berlusconi has been ordered to stand trial in April where he will face a three-judge panel. All of them are women
.One of the women who partied with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told CNN how she became a key figure in the scandal that is enveloping Italy.
In her first television interview, Nicole Minetti paints a different picture of parties she attended with Berlusconi, his associates and a bevy of pretty women to lurid tales in Italian media. Berlusconi has been indicted for paying for sex with an under-age nightclub dancer, 17-year-old Karima el Mahroug, nicknamed "Ruby the heart-stealer." The liaison allegedly happened last spring, at parties at his villa -- something both she and he deny.
About charges that he improperly used his office to help get Ruby out of police custody, the Prime Minister said it was a diplomatic gesture because he understood that she was the niece of then-Egyptian President Hosi Mubarak.
Here is a full transcript of Nicole Minetti's interview with CNN's Senior International Correspondent Dan Rivers:
Rivers: When did you first meet Berlusconi, what were the circumstances?
Minetti: I met him I would say about 3 years ago. I had met him in several situations, but the time that I actually approached him was at St. Raphael hospital. He was there for some treatments. And obviously I told him that I was a big fan of him. Like all of my family and that I was graduating as a dental hygienist that I would have loved to do politics. So he was very kind in my regards. So he left his contact, his telephone number and I left mine, not to him personally but to his entourage that was there. And some time later, I phoned him and said to him that, I would love to do something with politics, conventions, some stuff like that and so that is how it started. He was very kind in my regards and I told him that I was English, that my parents were English that I knew very well the language. And he was very surprised and I could tell that that was very important to him. He told me to study and to do well in my exams. And that is how I first met him.
Rivers: When did you first go to Arcore (where Berlusconi has a villa)?
Minetti: I don't remember the specific dates but I would say a couple of months after I met him in that certain situation. I went up for a political meeting. It was breakfast, I seem to remember, and that is the first time I went up to Arcore.
Rivers: Obviously these court documents paint a very lurid picture of the parties. What was your impression of them?
Judge orders Berlusconi to face trial Berlusconi party guest speaks to CNN
Minetti: Obviously it is the exact opposite. I mean the parties -- if we can call them parties -- were definitely different to how the press describes them. I've been there in several different situations. Sometimes I was there for dinner and sometimes for a lunch, let's say, sometimes there were many people, sometimes less. It depends. And all of the times what I can say, what I've seen is that the dinners were very nice, very good food, very good wine, very good music. I mean the president, he is a showman, let's say, he can talk about any thing. He sings. He tells stories, any type of stories, I mean even personal stories, of his experience of politics, humor stories. That is a little bit of how the evenings were. I mean nothing lurid.
Rivers: Were there pretty girls?
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