Formula One veteran chief Bernie Ecclestone is under investigation for bribing a German banker who is currently serving jail time.
Ecclestone was charged last July after he was accused of giving $45m (£33m) to former German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky when he sold the Formula One championship rights back in 2006. Ecclestone sold the company to private equity group CVC from German bank Bayern Landesbank.
Now the 83-year-old F1 boss, who has ruled the sport for almost four decades, will be tried on bribery charges in a German courtroom in the city of Munich. Thursday, Ecclestone’s lawyer said that Ecclestone admits to paying Gribkowsky, but denies bribery, and says he was a victim of blackmail.
Prosecutors believe that the payment to Gerhard Gribkowsky was to ensure that F1 was sold to a private equity group of Mr Ecclestone’s choice in order for him to retain job security and control of the sport. Ecclestone has agreed to step down from the board of the company which runs the sport, Delta Topco, until the outcome of the trial, but Ecclestone said he will continue to run the sport on a day-to-day basis.
“After discussion with the board, Mr Ecclestone has proposed and the board has agreed that until the case has been concluded, he will step down as a director with immediate effect, thereby relinquishing his board duties and responsibilities until the case has been resolved,” the holding company, Delta Topco Limited, said in a statement.
The trial is set to start at the end of April.
