Berlusconi is reported to have told Valter Lavitola, a shadowy consultant now wanted by police, to stay out of Italy during an investigation into an alleged extortion plot against the premier in which Lavitola was suspected to be involved.

Niccolo Ghedini, Berlusconi’s lawyer, said in a statement that the accusation, based on a police wiretap cited by the weekly L’Espresso, was “absurd and baseless.”

The story was reported on the front pages of major Italian dailies on Friday, bringing renewed calls from the opposition for Berlusconi to resign.

“This telephone call is the cherry on the cake,” Enrico Letta, a senior member of the opposition Democratic Party told La Repubblica daily. “The prime minister is not leading the country, which in fact has no leader.” he said, adding that Berlusconi should step aside.

Naples magistrates have issued a warrant for Lavitola’s arrest but his whereabouts are unknown and he is believed to be outside Italy. Berlusconi is due to be questioned by magistrates next week as a witness in the case.

The latest accusations add to the chaos surrounding the center-right government’s efforts to handle a financial crisis that has left Italy dependent on support from the European Central Bank to keep funding its 1.9 trillion euro public debt.

On Tuesday, magistrates are due to question Berlusconi over the case, linked to a 2009 scandal in which a prostitute named Patrizia D’Addario claimed to have been paid to attend parties at Berlusconi’s private residence in Rome.

Naples magistrates are investigating allegations that Berlusconi paid as much as 750,000 euros to a southern Italian businessman connected to Lavitola who introduced D’Addario and other escorts to the parties.

They believe Lavitola and businessman Giampaolo Tarantini extorted the payments from Berlusconi in return for an agreement not to tell investigators that the premier was aware the women were prostitutes.

Berlusconi, who has always denied ever paying for sex, has strongly denied making any illicit payments, saying that he had only offered help to Tarantini, now under arrest, because he and his family were in financial difficulties.