Berlusconi's nurse 'to face trial for recruiting prostitutes'

Prosecutors have asked for 25-year-old Nicole Minettia -- appointed regional councillor by Berlusconi who's embroiled in several sex scandals -- to be charged with recruiting some 33 prostitutes for him, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

Minetti, the former dental hygienist, is one of three of Berlusconi's closest associates facing allegations which are part of the same probe involving a teenage prostitute allegedly paid for sex by the controversial Italian PM.

Minetti, whose mother is British, is said to have procured the attractive young women for Berlusconi's after -dinner sex games played at his villa near Milan.

The prosecutors claim Minetti, who was also a former TV star, and two others are said to have recruited the girls for the parties -- all attractive TV stars, beauty queens or models and among them was belly dancer Karima El Mahroug.

The prosecutors say that at the time El Mahroug was just 17 years old and she was paid by Berlusconi with cash and jewellery -- as were the other girls -- in return for sex.

In a statement Milan prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati said: "We have requested that Nicole Minetti, Emilio Fede and Lele Mora be sent for trial on charges of procuring adult and juvenile prostitutes in Milan between September 2009 and May 2010."

Minetti, Fede and Mora all deny the charges and like Berlusconi claim the parties were innocent dinners.