F1’s Ecclestone admits paying banker to avoid £2bn tax probe

FORMULA ONE boss Bernie Ecclestone has said he made payments to a German banker over the 2006 sale of its stake in the racing series to avoid a tax probe.

He told a court in Germany he had felt pressured because he feared Gerhard Gribkowsky – on trial on for corruptly accepting the money – would report him to UK tax authorities. “The tax risk would have exceeded £2 billion”, he said.

Gribkowsky is accused of taking $44m from Ecclestone over the sale of BayernLB’s stake. Mr Ecclestone, 81, who has immunity for testifying, said: “The only alternative was that the British tax authorities followed a case that would have been very expensive for me.”

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Prosecutors claim Gribkowsk used the funds to pay Mr Ecclestone a commission of $41.4m and agreed to pay an extra $25m to a company linked to him. Mr Ecclestone said he deserved a commission, saying: “I did a very, very good job.”

Prosecutors claim Gribkowsky sold the stake to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners without updating its valuation in return for bribes disguised as consulting fees.

The case continues.