FOR THE second time this year, fashion designer Giorgio Armani yesterday received a suspended jail sentence for bribery and corruption under a plea-bargaining deal, writes Paddy Agnew in Rome.
At a preliminary hearing in a Milan court, Armani was granted Ball benefits of the law" when lawyers sought a plea-bargaining arrangement to mitigate a 20-day suspended sentence.
The fashion maestro had been accused of paying tax inspectors about £142,000 in 1989 in return for "quick and favourable" audits of his company books.
In a similar case last May, Armani had again plea-bargained, receiving a suspended nine months sentence for having paid £42,000 to inspectors for a lenient audit in 1990.
Although plea-bargaining results in an effective conviction, it is basically a legal short-cut which allows for leniency but does not imply a guilty plea.
Armani had been charged in the May trial along with designers Krizia, Gianfranco Ferre and Gianni Versace. All of them claimed that they had been victims of extortion from unscrupulous inspectors, with Armani explaining his decision to plea-bargain by saying: "Even though I don't believe that I am guilty of this charge. (I am plea-bargaining) in order to close a chapter that has upset my professional serenity."
Director Martin Scorsese is making a film on the life of singer Frank Sinatra "from the family point of view", he told Daily Variety magazine while filming in Morocco.
Scorsese said he is working with Nancy Sinatra, who wrote a biography of her father entitled Frank Sinatra, Baritone. That way, said the film director he hopes to get "close to the heart" of the legendary crooner.
Eleanor Roosevelt will become the first US first lady to have a battleship named after her when construction of the USS Roosevelt, a new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, gets under way next spring.
As befits a navy ship near the close of the century, the destroyer, which will carry 380 sailors and 96 missiles "has been outfitted for a mixed-gender crew" a navy spokesman said.
Julian Clary is to host a primetime quiz show in the US. He will present In The Dark, a risque version of Mr and Mrs in which couples have to g rope around in a darkened house finding missing items.
Infra-red cameras will be used to shoot the series which has been bought by entertainment giant Warner Television. Clary had signed a deal to make a six week run of the networked show.