Patrizia D’Addario and Premier¹ Silvio Berlusconi.A businessman who recruited young women to attend parties at Premier Silvio Berlusconi's homes has apologized to the premier for having contributed to a new scandal.

A businessman who recruited young women to attend parties at Premier Silvio Berlusconi's homes has apologized to the premier for having contributed to a new scandal.

Giampaolo Tarantini also said in a statement late on Saturday that Berlusconi didn't know the expenses were paid, and said he was sorry that something that was meant well had turned into a mess for the premier.

Three women have told the reporters that at Tarantini's invitation they attended parties at the premier's residence last fall and in January.

The first, Patrizia D'Addario, described by her friends as a high-end prostitute from Bari, told Corriere della Sera last week that she was paid euro 1,000 ($1,400) to attend a party in October 2008 at the premier's residence in Rome, and then returned on Nov 4 and stayed the night.

D'Addario's friend, Barbara Montereale, told the left-leaning La Repubblica that she too attended the Nov 4 party, and then another at Berlusconi's Sardinian villa² in mid-January.

For that party, Montereale said she received euro 1,000 from Tarantini and another envelope with cash from the premier himself after she confided³ she was having problems raising an infant alone. She stressed she wasn't a prostitute and didn't have sexual relations with the premier.

Both said they were offered candidacies in recent local elections in Bari.

A third woman, Lucia Rossini, told Repubblica she also attended the Nov 4 party, though she wasn't paid or offered a candidacy. Both she and Montereale say the premier gave them jewelry⁴.

All three have been questioned by Bari police reportedly investigating Tarantini for alleged⁵ improprieties concerning contracts for his health care business.

In the statement, Tarantini said the women's stories were false. He apologized to Berlusconi for having "unwillingly⁶ hurt him".

He said he invited the women to the parties because he wanted to present a good impression to Berlusconi. "It's absolutely beyond discussion that Premier Berlusconi could have been aware of my reimbursements⁷" to the women, he said.

日前，意大利一位商人向总理道歉，称自己是新丑闻的罪魁祸首。之前他被曝招募年轻女郎参加意大利总理西尔维奥•贝卢斯科尼在住所举行的派对。

在于上周六晚间发表的声明中，詹保罗•塔兰蒂尼还表示，贝卢斯科尼并不知道为此支付了费用，他很抱歉自己好心办了坏事。

之前，有三位女士向记者曝料称，应塔兰蒂尼之邀，她们曾于去年秋季和今年1月前往总理住所参加派对。

第一位女主角是帕特里齐亚•达达里奥，她的朋友形容她是巴里来的高级妓女。在上周接受《晚邮报》记者采访时，她称自己曾于去年10月份参加了总理在罗马住所举办的派队，并收价1000欧元（合1400美元），之后于11月4日“二进宫”并留下过夜。

达达里奥的朋友芭芭拉•蒙特瑞勒在接受左翼《共和报》采访时称，她也参加了去年11月4日的派对，此外还参加了今年1月中旬在贝卢斯科尼的撒丁岛别墅举办的派对。

蒙特瑞勒称，塔兰蒂尼支付给她1000欧元作为派对出场费。在她倾诉称自己很难独立抚养婴儿后，总理自己还给她封了一个红包。她强调自己不是妓女，也没有和总理发生性关系。

二人均称已获得了最近举行的巴里地方大选的候选资格。

第三位是露西娅•罗西尼，她在接受《共和报》采访时称，尽管没有拿到报酬，也没有得到候选资格，但自己也参加了去年11月4日的派对。她和蒙特瑞勒都声称总理送给了她们珠宝。

三人都已接受了巴里警方的调查。据称，巴里警方正在调查塔兰蒂尼在签署卫生项目合同中的不当行为。

塔兰蒂尼在声明中称，这三位女性都在说谎。他向贝卢斯科尼道歉，称无意中伤害了他。

他称自己邀请女士参加派对是为了给总理贝卢斯科尼留个好印象。他说：“毫无疑问，总理贝卢斯科尼应该意识到我给她们付了钱”。

Vocabulary:

high-end：being the most expensive and technically sophisticated（高端的，高级的）

candidacy: the position of a candidate; state of being a candidate; candidateship（候选资格）