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F1 boss Ecclestone may face bribery charges following German banker's jail sentence | Bernie Ecclestone is in line to be charged by German authorities
after a banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in
prison for accepting bribes from the Formula One chief. Gribkowsky admitted to
receiving 28 million pounds in corrupt payments during the sale of German bank
BayernLB's stake in F1 to CVC Capital Partners in 2005. German prosecutors claimed
the money was paid to Gribkowsky, the former chief risk officer of Bayern LB,
to make certain the deal went through. Christoph Rodler, who summed up prosecutes'
case, said Ecclestone's life's work in F1 could have been in danger if CVC had
not bought Bayern LB's 48 per cent stake. Ecclestone had last year said he had
paid Gribkowsky because the banker was blackmailing him over his tax affairs,
although he claimed to have only handed over around 10 million pound. The threat
was centered on what Ecclestone insists is a bogus claim that he had control over
a family trust operated by his then wife Slavica. Ecclestone feared the resulting
legal battle could last years and cost him a fortune. But this argument was rejected
by Rodler, who said in court yesterday that Ecclestone was 'not the victim of
extortion but the accomplice in an act of bribery'. Presiding judge Peter Noll
described Ecclestone as the 'driving force' behind the payments. "I think Mr Gribkowsky
told them what he thought he had to tell them. I don't think I should (face further
action) but you don't know, do you?" Daily Mail quoted the judge, as saying. Ecclestone,
the chief executive of F1, remains under investigation by the German authorities
but has yet to be charged with any offence.
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