Tessa Jowell financial allegations

A series of financial allegations concerning corporate lawyer David Mills came under investigation in 2006 by Italian authorities, who suspected him of corruptly receiving £340,000 from Silvio Berlusconi in the 1990s. As he was married at the time to Tessa Jowell, the then United Kingdom Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, some newspapers termed the accusations Jowellgate. History Tessa Jowell married international corporate lawyer David Mills in 1979. In the early 1990s, Mills acted for Silvio Berlusconi, then a high-profile businessman and former Prime Minister of Italy. During his work for Berlusconi, Mills received $600,000 (£340,000); the precise source of the money and the reason for its payment was under dispute, with Mills saying that the money was part of a larger amount paid indirectly to him by another Italian client, Diego Attanasio, although Attanasio has denied this claim when found in London on 2 March (between custodial sentences for bribery and corruption). Mills was investigated in Italy for money laundering and alleged tax fraud and on 10 March 2006 Italian prosecuting magistrates decided that they had sufficient evidence to ask a judge to indict Berlusconi and Mills. The judgement was appealed by David Mills. On 27 October 2009, the Italian Appeal Court upheld his conviction and his sentence of 4½ years prison. He confirmed that he would initiate a second and final appeal to the Cassation Court.