“The approval and signing of significant contracts and other material business
arrangements shall now be the responsibility of the chairman, Peter
Brabeck-Letmathe, and deputy chairman, Donald Mackenzie.”
Mackenzie, a co-founder of CVC Capital Partners, Formula One’s main
shareholder, said last November that if Ecclestone was found to have “done
anything that is criminally wrong, we would fire him”.
Ecclestone assured the board on Thursday that he is “innocent of the charges”
and will “vigorously defend the case” when it goes to court.
The Formula One supremo faces charges of bribery and incitement to breach of
trust with a $44 million payment to Gribkowsky. Bribery convictions in
Germany can result in prison sentences of three months to 10 years.
Ecclestone’s lawyers in Germany, Sven Thomas and Norbert Scharf, said on
Thursday that “the alleged bribery did not happen”.
“The accusations in the indictment based on Gribkowsky’s statement are
unfounded and do not… add up to a coherent picture,” they added.
The German banker was convicted in 2012 of taking the payment from Ecclestone
in connection with the undervaluation and sale of a 47 per cent stake in
Formula One to CVC in 2006. He was sentenced to 8½ years in prison for
corruption, tax evasion and breach of trust.
In separate legal proceedings in London’s High Court, Ecclestone admitted in
November that he made the payments to Gribkowsky between July 2006 and
December 2007 because he was effectively the victim of blackmail, and wanted
to avoid being reported to UK authorities over his tax affairs.
He said he had been “shaken down” by Gribkowsky, adding: “I made up my mind he
needed to be kept quiet.”
German media company Constantin Medien – a former shareholder in the sport –
is suing Ecclestone for up to $144 million, claiming Formula One was
undervalued by the BayernLB deal.
Judgment is expected at the end of this month, but Ecclestone is also facing
action in the United States, where a private equity firm, Bluewaters
Communications Holdings, has filed a $650 million lawsuit. Bluewaters says
it should have been sold BayernLB’s stake as it had offered “10 per cent
above any genuine bona fide offer put forward by any other competing buyer”.
Red
Bull team boss Christian Horner, who has been touted as a potential
successor to Ecclestone, said earlier this week before the court’s decision
that despite his legal troubles Ecclestone remained “the only guy” to run
the sport.
Ferrari
president Luca di Montezemolo has previously suggested that a change would
be needed if German prosecutors acted.
Meanwhile, Pirelli concluded its contract with the FIA to supply tyres to
Formula One on Thursday so that it will continue in the sport for the next
three seasons. The Italian manufacturer had originally agreed a five-year
deal with Ecclestone and the teams, but the FIA only agreed to the
three-year extension.