F1: Ecclestone paid bribe to keep tax authorities at bay

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone told a German court on Wednesday he had paid a former BayernLB banker to stay quiet and keep tax authorities at bay while acquiring the rights for his sport five years ago.

Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former employee of Germany’s second-largest public sector Landesbank, is on trial, charged with selling Formula One rights in return for a bribe, with the involvement of Ecclestone.

Gribkowsky is charged with bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion in a deal that cost the bank 66 million euros (57 million pounds) with him pocketing about 32 million euros as part of a bribe, according to prosecutors.

Ecclestone said he was concerned Gribkowsky could talk to British tax authorities about his businesses and, even if he was legal and correct, a tax probe might be damaging and costly.I had no alternative at the time,” the 81-year-old Ecclestone, wearing a dark blue three-piece suit and tie, told a Munich court, saying he had paid off the banker.

“The only alternative was that the British tax authorities followed a case that would have been very expensive for me,” said Ecclestone, who has immunity from prosecution for his testimony but not in general for his role in the affair.