Formula 1 boss Ecclestone indicted on bribery charge

German prosecutors have indicted
Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone on a
bribery charge.
The charge relates to a $44m (£29m)
payment to a German banker, Gerhard
Gribkowsky of Bayern Landesbank. It was
linked to the sale of a stake in F1.
Mr Ecclestone said he had paid Mr
Gribkowsky to avoid a UK tax inquiry into
the sale of Formula 1 in 2006, but he
denies the payments were bribes.
Mr Gribkowsky was sentenced to eight-
and-a-half years in jail in Munich.
Speaking to the Financial Times on
Wednesday, Mr Ecclestone said: "I have
just spoken to my lawyers and they have
received an indictment. It's being
translated into English."
Asked how he responded to the
indictment, he said: "We are defending it
properly. It will be an interesting case.
It's a pity it's happened."
Mr Ecclestone said it was "inevitable"
that the indictment had been served by
the Munich court. "If someone wants to
sue you, they can do it and you have to
defend it," he said.
He has until mid-August to respond to
the charges. The court will then decide
whether to take the case to trial - it
could be heard by mid-September.
Mr Ecclestone faces a possible jail term if
found guilty, something he has
previously said would force him to stand
down as head of F1.
His lawyer told the Financial Times the
indictment was largely based on
statements from Gribkowsky, and that
Mr Ecclestone intended to dispute these.
'Only alternative'
Gribkowsky received a reduced sentence
for admitting corruption
BayernLB acquired a 47% stake in
Formula 1 after its previous owner,
German media group Kirch, went bust.
In 2006, Gribkowsky was put charge of
managing the bank's sale of the stake to
private equity firm CVC Capital Partners,
which meant the firm owned most of the
sport.
CVC has since reduced its stake in a
series of deals. It has not commented on
the indictment.
In evidence to a Munich court in June
last year, Gribkowsky admitted that
prosecution claims he had corruptly
received $41.4m (£26.6m) in bank
commissions, and a large payment via a
family trust - the Bambino Trust - from
Mr Ecclestone, were "essentially true".
In his testimony, Mr Ecclestone said he
had been worried that if he had not paid
the money, Gribkowsky would have
alerted the UK tax authorities to "things"
that might have led to a tax inquiry.
He believed Gribkowsky intended to tell
the UK tax authorities that Mr Ecclestone
was secretly in charge of the Bambino
Trust, which is in his ex-wife's name.
Mr Ecclestone said at the time that the
claim was false, but that proving it
"would have been very expensive for
me".
"The tax risk would have exceeded £2bn.
I paid him to keep calm and not to do
silly things," he said.