But Ecclestone, again showing himself to be a great survivor, successfully
negotiated a deal with prosecutors in Munich whereby he will hand over $100 million
(£60 million) in the next seven days.
It prompted a furious reaction from some quarters in Germany, after
prosecutors spent years preparing the legal case against Ecclestone.
A former justice minister described the situation as “galling”, calling for
the closure of the legal loophole that enabled Ecclestone to settle.
“It is not in harmony with the sense and purpose of our legal practices,”
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said.
However, Peter Noll, the presiding judge in the case, told the court that a
conviction was “not particularly likely”. Ecclestone’s age and health, as
well as the huge public attention on the trial, were also factors in its
abandonment. It had been due to run until October.
The dramatic development will be met with shock through the sport, with many
having privately anticipated Ecclestone’s demise when proceedings began
earlier this year.
“At one point in the run-up to the trial, it was pretty bleak,” an F1 insider
said. “But yet again he has pulled off a Houdini.”
Many had also suspected that CVC was hoping the German court might jettison
Ecclestone from the sport as it pursues a stock market flotation.
While Ecclestone always maintained he could run Formula One despite being in
court two days a week, he seemed relieved that his legal troubles appeared
to be finally over.
However, he did describe himself as “a bit of an idiot” for handing over £60
million when in his view he was on his way to being acquitted of bribing a
German banker. “The bottom line is it’s been 3½ years of aggravation,
travelling, meeting lawyers, and God knows what else, so it is good it is
out of the way,” he said.
“In the end what has happened today is good and bad – the good is the judge
more or less said I was acquitted, and they [the prosecution] really didn’t
have a case. So I was a bit of an idiot to do what I did to settle because
it wasn’t with the judge, it was with the prosecutors.
“Anyway, it’s done and finished, so it’s all right. I’m contented, it’s all
fine.” He went on: “This now allows me to do what I do best, which is
running F1. Another three months out would have been bad.
“I’ve been working weekends to catch up with what I’ve been missing during the
week. I’ve not really noticed, but it’s probably taken its toll a little
bit.”
The board and CVC declined to clarify the situation surrounding a number of
directorial positions that Ecclestone held on companies related to F1.
When Ecclestone was charged seven months ago, he was stripped of the power to
sign and approve major business contracts for the sport.
“Things that used to go by his desk are not anymore,” a source said during the
trial. However, in a statement in January, Delta Topco made it clear that
Ecclestone would not sit on the board “until the case has been concluded”.
Asked directly last night whether CVC was happy for him to continue,
Ecclestone was unequivocal: “Yes, of course.”
Under Bavarian law a trial such as Ecclestone’s can be ended if the accused
makes a payment to the treasury or a non-profit making organisation, if all
sides agree.
As part of the deal, $99 million will go directly to the German state,
with the remainder set aside for a German charity that looks after
terminally ill children.
Ecclestone’s multi-million pound legal team furiously denied allegations that
the British businessman had “bought his way out” of a legal case that had
been more than three years in the making.
They told the court: “This abandonment of the proceedings indicates that
[based] on an unbiased, objective and independent assessment of the main
proceedings after more than 100 hours of evidence, a conviction of Mr
Ecclestone could not be expected with any likelihood.”
Prosecutors had argued that Ecclestone paid Gerhard Gribkowsky, formerly the
chief risk officer of BayernLB, a £26 million bribe to steer the
sale of F1 from the Bavarian bank to CVC, Ecclestone’s preferred buyer, in
2006.
Ecclestone has long maintained his innocence, claiming he was “shaken down” by
Gribkowsky over a potential investigation into Ecclestone’s tax affairs.
Gribkowsky was jailed in 2012 for 8½ years for bribery and breach of fiduciary
duty.