Showgirls dressed as Obama at Berlusconi’s `Bunga bunga’ Party Sparks Controversy

Showgirls dressed as Obama may be a hit at Silvio Berlusconi’s “bunga bunga” parties, but they aren’t so hot here.

On Friday, Karima El Mahroug, who is better known by her stage name "Ruby the Heartstealer", told a packed courtroom that she and other performers at the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" sex parties costumed themselves as nuns, nurses and U.S. President Barack Obama. Berlusconi had claimed that the get-togethers at his villa were elegant dinner parties.
President Obama wasn't the only male costume at the parties. Women also dressed up as Brazilian footballer, "Ronaldinho."

Three Berlusconi aides are on trial for recruiting women for prostitution and abetting prostitution. They are also charged with abetting the prostitution of a minor. Emilio Fede, an Italian anchorman, journalist and writer who is an executive in Berlusconi’s media empire is chaged along with former dental hygienist, showgirl and local politician Nicole Minetti and talent agent Dario “Lele” Mora deny the charges.

Berlusconi is in court on separate charges that he paid for sex with El Mahroug when she was a minor. The charges go on to say that he abused the powers of his office by having her released from police custody after she was arrested for theft.

The Moroccan-born El Mahroug told the court that she got envelopes containing thousands of euros in cash from Berlusconi, who was Prime Minister at the time. She told the court that on one occasion she spent the night at the villa outside Milan on one occasion and that she and some other women who had slept there had breakfast with the lusty politician.

The nightclub dancer at the center of media mogul’s trial denied ever having sex with Berlusconi. She also said she never saw him engaged in physical contact with other women at the parties..

El Mahroug, who was 17 when she went to the parties, said she lied about her age and that she told guests that she was related to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. El Mahroug couldn’t appear as a witness at Berlusconi's trial in December because she was on holiday in Mexico.

Berlusconi denies any wrongdoing. He says he has never paid for sex and contends that the judges are politically motivated against him.

A verdict in the sex trial is expected in June, and a conviction for tax fraud is moving to a final appeal.