Two accused of blackmailing Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi

Rome, Italy (CNN) -- A businessman and his wife were arrested on charges of blackmailing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italian police said Thursday.

The blackmail allegations are linked to a sex scandal surrounding Berlusconi for months.

Gianpaolo Tarantini, 36, and Angela Devenuto, 34, were arrested at their Rome home and brought to Naples to be questioned by prosecutors.

A judge issued an arrest warrant for a third person, Valter Lavitola, who authorities said was the link between Berlusconi and Tarantini. Lavitola is believed to be out of the country.

Tarantini, who is accused of paying escorts to go to parties with Berlusconi, has said the leader was not aware of the payments.

But, according to the Naples's prosecutors, Berlusconi was a victim of "veiled and implied threats" and paid 500,000 euros ($714,250) to Tarantini.

Berlusconi told the Panorama newspaper, owned by his media group, that he gave the money to Tarantini as an act of charity.

"Through Lavitola," Berlusconi told Panorama, "I helped a person (Tarantini) with a family and kids, which is now in very bad economic situation. I have nothing to repent of. I didn't do anything illicit; I just helped a desperate man without pretending nothing (anything) in exchange."

Tarantini said he will cooperate with authorities. He denied he blackmailed Berlusconi, to whom he expressed his "gratitude for all what he did for he and for my family."

In a separate case, Berlusconi is presently on trial in Milan for allegedly paying for sex with a then-17-year-old Moroccan belly dancer named Karima el Mahroug, nicknamed "Ruby the Heart-stealer."

The Berlusconi sex scandal explained

He is charged with abuse of power because prosecutors say he phoned a police station -- where she was being held on theft charges -- to have her released.

Berlusconi has repeatedly denied all of the allegations, even joking about how unlikely it is that a man his age would be capable of the sexual feats some have claimed. "I'm 74 years old and even though I may be a bit of a rascal, 33 girls in two months seems to me too much even for a 30-year-old."

In 2009, his wife of 19 years, Veronica Lario, filed for divorce and publicly accused her husband of "consorting with minors" after he attended the 18th birthday party of an aspiring TV actress and model called Noemi Letizia. Berlusconi said the young woman was the daughter of a friend and that he had done nothing inappropriate. Noemi Letizia and her family also said there was nothing improper.

That same year, another young woman, Patrizia D'Addario, alleged she and other girls were paid to attend parties at Berlusconi's residence. Berlusconi denied the claim, telling his weekly magazine Chi: "I never understood where the satisfaction is when you're missing the pleasure of conquest."

El Mahroug has denied having sex with the premier. Both admit that he gave her money, although they say it was an act of kindness to help the young girl.

CNN's Hada Messia contributed to this report.