Silvio Berlusconi Died. But for Her, the ‘Bunga Bunga’ Scandal Lives On.

Europe|Silvio Berlusconi Died. But for Her, the ‘Bunga Bunga’ Scandal Lives On.

Hardly a night goes by that Karima el-Mahroug does not think of what her life would be like if she had never met Silvio Berlusconi.

Fourteen years ago, Ms. el-Mahroug, then 17 and known as the nightclub dancer Ruby Heart-Stealer, suddenly found herself at the center of a national scandal and global tabloid frenzy. Mr. Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister at the time, was accused of paying her for sex during bacchanals he hosted at his villa near Milan in what became known as “Bunga Bunga” parties.

She denied it. He denied it. A court eventually acquitted him — and then he died. But the saga is not over for Ms. el-Mahroug, now 31 and desperate to move on.

“He messed up my life,” she said last week as she prepared to face yet another court hearing, she hopes the last. That hearing, on Monday, could determine if the case against her in the scandal will be dropped or move forward, keeping her life in suspended animation. She and other women in the case were accused of covering up for Mr. Berlusconi and receiving hush money for their alleged lies in court to protect him.

Ms. el-Mahroug acknowledges that she attended and danced at Mr. Berlusconi’s parties and returned repeatedly, receiving about 40,000 euros, or about $44,000, as well as jewelry. But she denies breaking any laws and chalks up her behavior to her youth and need for money after a difficult childhood.

More than a year after the death of Mr. Berlusconi — a brash media mogul turned politician who dominated the country for nearly three decades — he remains a potent presence.