“The accusations in the indictment based on Gribkowsky’s statement are
unfounded and do not … add up to a coherent picture,” they said.
Gribkowsky was convicted in 2012 of taking a payment from Ecclestone in
connection with the sale of a stake in F1. He was found guilty of
corruption, tax evasion and breach of trust, and sentenced to
eight-and-a-half-years in prison.
Ecclestone has claimed he did “nothing illegal.” He acknowledged, during
Gribkowsky’s trial, that he made the payment but said he was pressured to do
so.
Gribkowsky was in charge of selling German bank BayernLB’s 47 per cent stake
in F1 to investment group CVC Capital Partners in 2006.
In addition to taking the money from Ecclestone, Gribkowsky used BayernLB’s
funds to pay the F1 boss a commission of $41.4 million and agreed to pay a
further $25 million to Bambino Trust, a company with which Ecclestone was
affiliated, prosecutors said during the Gribkowsky trial.
In separate legal proceedings in London, German media company Constantin
Medien – a former F1 shareholder – is suing Ecclestone and other defendants
for up to $144 million, claiming F1 was undervalued by the BayernLB deal.
Ecclestone said in November at the High Court in London that he made a payment
to avoid being reported by Gribkowsky to authorities over his tax affairs.
“I made up my mind he needed to be kept quiet,” Ecclestone said, asserting
that he was “shaken down” by Gribkowsky.
Yesterday, Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who has been touted as a successor
to Ecclestone at the top of the sport, insisted that, despite legal
proceedings, the 83 year-old is the “only guy” to run the sport.
“Bernie is absolutely the best and only guy to do what he does, to take
Formula One to the global reach that the sport has achieved,” Horner said.