Italy's ex-PM Berlusconi starts community service

Rome, May 9 (IANS) Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi arrived Friday at a Catholic care home to do one-year community service for tax fraud, a media report said.

Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud last year in connection with TV rights purchased by his firm Mediaset in the 1990s, ANSA news agency reported.

He was sentenced to four years in prison that was commuted to four hours' work a week with elderly dementia patients.

The Sacra Famiglia Catholic Foundation near Milan has said that it would treat Berlusconi just like any other assistants in the facility.

The facility added that Berlusconi would move without any police escort and would not be able to do any election campaigning while at the facility.

The alternative to community service was house arrest.

Berlusconi has said that he was happy to do community service and would try to be useful.

The 77-year-old billionaire has also been embroiled in a string of court cases.