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Berlusconi declared 40m euros in 2010

30 March 2011 10:04 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, one of Italyâ€™s richest men, declared 40.89 million euros (56 million dollars) in revenue for 2009, according to his tax returns released on Monday, Gulf Today reported.

His former ally-turned rival Gianfranco Fini, the speaker of parliament, declared 189,530 euros while centrist leader Francesco Rutelli declared around 182,000 euros.

On the opposition side, Antonio Di Pietro, head of the centre-left Italy of Values party, declared 177,000 euros while Pier Luigi Bersani, chief of the Democratic Party, declared 137,000 euros.

The previous year, Berlusconi, the billionaire media magnate who on Monday appeared before a judge for the first time in eight years over allegations of business fraud, had declared 23.05 million euros.

According to the annual ranking by the US Forbes magazine published early this month, Berlusconi is Italy’s third richest person, with a fortune estimated at 7.8 billion dollars.

He trails Nutella boss Michele Ferrero, who is worth 18 billion dollars, and Leonardo Del Vecchio, head of luxury goods maker Luxottica, who is worth 11 billion dollars.

Berlusconi went before a Milan court Monday as part of a process to decide whether he should stand trial in a case involving his company Mediatrade.

The Italian premier is a defendant in two ongoing trials and is also set to stand trial starting on April 6 on charges of having sex for money with a then 17-year-old nightclub dancer nicknamed "Ruby the Heart Stealer.â€

He is then accused of using his position to try to cover up the alleged crime by putting pressure on police to release Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, when she was arrested for suspected theft last year.