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Italy court upholds Berlusconi tax fraud conviction

An Italian court has upheld a tax fraud conviction imposed on the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, according to BBC.

An appeals court reinstated an earlier sentence and recommended he serve four years in jail.

Mr Berlusconi had appealed against a sentence passed by a lower court in 2012, which found him guilty of tax fraud over the running of his media interests.

The media mogul was also barred from holding office for five years.

Mr Berlusconi and others were convicted in October 2012 of inflating the price of distribution rights bought by his Mediaset group to avoid paying taxes.

A Milan court sentenced him to four years but later cut it to one.

The former prime minister denied the charges and said they were politically motivated.

But instead of overturning the verdict, the appeals court re-instated the original jail term.

Mr Berlusconi is now likely to appeal to an even higher court, the BBC reports.

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