Former Italian primer minister, Silvio Berlusconi, faces charges of fraudulent accounting in connection with irregularities found at his private broadcasting company, Mediaset SpA.

The 71-year-old - who controls Mediaset through his family's holding company, Fininvest SpA Berlusconi – and Mediaset's chairman Fedele Confalonieri, and others, face charges of false accounting and embezzlement for using offshore accounts to pay Hollywood movie rights premiums, Bloomberg reported.

Italian prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale asked a Milan court to charge Berlusconi, but the former PM's lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, discounted the allegations as 'baseless'.

'In April 2001 Berlusconi had no role in approving the results of a company that is listed on the stock exchange, but in which he has no operating role,'' Ghedini said.

The public prosecutor has alleged that 1999 and 2000 are the years in which the irregularities occurred.

In a statement, Mediaset said: ' The balance sheets of the company are always drafted in rigorous observance of transparency and the law.'

Further reading:

Mediaset chairman, Berlusconi accused of false accounting

Prosecutor files new charges in Berlusconi TV rights case, keeping trial from expiring