Berlusconi faces new criminal charges

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi was indicted Tuesday for allegedly publishing an illegally obtained wiretap, officials say. In 2005, a high profile wiretap was published in Il Giornale, the conservative newspaper headed by Silvio's brother, Paolo Berlusconi. The conversation took place between Piero Fassino, head of the short-lived Democratic Left party, and Giovanni Consorte, former chairman of Unipol, an association of insurers which has been linked to the Democratic Left, Italy's former Communist Party. Around that time, Unipol was very close to taking over a leading Italian bank, Banca Naxionale del Lavoro. ANSA reported Fassino was recorded saying, "We have a bank!" Berlusconi told a Milan court Tuesday he had never heard the wiretap, "otherwise I would have remembered," he added. Two others have been convicted of involvement. Berlusconi already has been charged in three criminal cases: tax fraud, bribery and paying an underage prostitute and then using his position to cover it up.