L'Espresso, a left-leaning weekly news magazine, competes with Panorama, a right-leaning weekly news magazine owned by Berlusconi.
The prostitute was allegedly hired by an Italian businessman to go to with him to the prime minister’s official residence in Rome last October and November. In one tape, Berlusconi shows her around his vacation home in Sardinia. In another, the escort talks about her time with Berlusconi with the businessman who hired her, and the third tape allegedly records Berlusconi having sex with the prostitute. The dates of the tapes are not given.
Berlusconi has not denied that the woman went to his Rome residence — but in June he said that he did not know she was an escort.
The businessman is being investigated by prosecutors in the city of Bari on charges of corruption and abetting prostitution, and the escort has given the tapes to the investigators.
Berlusconi’s office declined to comment on the most recent tape.