AC Milan owner given four-year jail sentence

AC Milan owner and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to four years in prison for a tax fraud in connection to the purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television company.

Along with him are ten others who have been jailed as well, with the court order also barring him from holding a political position in the country for the next three years.

Prosecutors blamed Berlusconi’s company for inflating the price for the TV rights of 3,000 films after they had been bought by Berlusconi’s network from offshore companies, and had payments falsely declared in their attempts to avoid taxation.

This helped them pocket a massive difference, which reportedly amounted to around €250 million.

76-year old Berlusconi had announced a few days back that he wouldn’t run for premier in the upcoming elections, and is expected to appeal this ruling.