Prosecutors have denied timing the latest case to coincide with the elections, and supreme court chief Nicoli Marvulli said Berlusconi suffered from "persecution mania".

Berlusconi has also been accused of manipulating his vast media empire to garner almost blanket coverage during the campaign.

He controls Mediaset, the country's largest private network which he founded initially as local station Telemilano in the 1970s, as well as Italy's largest publishing house and leading daily newspaper, Il Giornale.

During two televised live debates in the campaign Berlusconi repeatedly berated the moderator for not allowing him to speak despite going over his own allotted time.

Indeed he is not a man who holds his words back for another day.

Tough campaigner

In a particularly rancorous election campaign this year, he repeatedly resorted to personal insults against rival Romano Prodi and criticised his choice of coalition partners which include communists.

He even created a spat with China following comments that communists under Mao Zedong boiled babies to make fertiliser.

But for some Italians his business acumen is testament that he is the still the right man to run the country and by gaining around half of the vote he still has a crucial role to play in the formation of the next government.

His business dealings began at an early age by selling vacuum cleaners among other things.

In 1961 he founded Edilnord, a construction company, establishing himself as a property tycoon by building the stylish Milano 2 flat complex in the late 1960s.

He then developed Mediaset and his company took over nearly 150 companies from a range of different industries.

He moved into politics by forming his own party Forza Italia in 1993 and then won the 1994 general election becoming prime minister for the first time before losing out to Prodi in 1996.