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.
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