Silvio Berlusconi's €20m pleasure chest "went to party girls" By NICK PISA Published on Saturday 26 May 2012 00:00 Silvio Berlusconi's accountant brought €20 million (£16m) in cash to the former premier's luxury villa to pay girls who attended his infamous "bunga bunga" parties, a court heard yesterday. The sum was revealed by Giuseppe Spinelli, Berlusconi's grey-haired accountant, during two hours of questioning as the trial of the former Italian leader, who is accused of paying for sex with a minor, continues. Prosecutors believe dozens of women were given money, cars and jewellery in return for spending the night with him and in return for attending his parties. The trial has heard how women dressed as nuns and police officers before carrying out seductive pole dances for Berlusconi, 75, and two of his cronies. The venue for the parties was the basement in the billionaire media tycoon's villa at Arcore near Milan, and Mr Spinelli told the court how he took the money to the house from his office over a period between 2009 and 2010. As prosecutors showed him a long list of bankers drafts and withdrawals from the former prime minister's accounts, Mr Spinelli said: "I was just following the orders of Silvio Berlusconi. Every slip had to be personally signed by him, and I would then take the money to Arcore. During the week, the girls would speak to me and tell me what they needed, and then on a Monday I would go to Arcore where I had a meeting with him [Berlusconi] and he would tell me what amounts to put in the envelopes. He asked me to bring the money in cash, and I would put it in the safe at the villa. In 2009, I brought around €7,665,000, while in 2010 I brought more than €12m. Whenever large sums were needed, I would forewarn the bank and they would break it down into smaller amounts for me. The money was for the girls" daily living expenses and for bills, that sort of thing. We helped so many people and we still do. Some of these girls had come from overseas and had nothing. They all needed help. Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with Karima El Mahroug, in February 2010 when she was 17-years old and a minor under Italian prostitution laws. He denies the charges. Mr Spinelli said: "I gave her less than €10,000, probably around €8,900. One day she came to my office and her face was all bruised and she said her flatmate had beaten her up, so I gave her €3,000. Another time, after I had spoken to Berlusconi about her, I gave her €5,000 and I think on two other occasions when she turned up at my office unannounced I gave her between €100 and €300. The court also heard from Marysthell Polanco, a guest at Berlusconi's parties, who said that she dressed as a burlesque version of US president Barack Obama to entertain the former Italian prime minister. In testimony, Ms Polanco said she had also dressed as prosecutor Ilda Boccassini. Boccassini, known as "Ilda the Red" because of her hair colour and what Berlusconi says is her communist sympathies, is one of the prosecutors in the trial. "I dressed up as Boccassini with a toga to make him laugh, and also as Obama," Ms Polanco told the court. Ms Polanco, a 28-year-old from the Dominican Republic, said the parties were innocent fun accompanied by burlesque, but not pornographic, entertainment. Other witnesses who attended his parties painted a more sordid picture, including nudity, mimicked sex, and one described two women wearing versions of nuns" habits performing a raunchy pole dance.