I'll have to read further, but I think Ecclestone is NAMED....in charges made against a banker...Not been charged...And with the best lawyers in the world....AP - German prosecutors charge banker over F1 bribesFRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Prosecutors in Munich have charged a former executive at a German bank for allegedly taking bribes from Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone in connection with the 2006 sale of the bank's stake in F1.
Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former member of the management board at the regional bank BayernLB, was in charge of managing the sale of BayernLB's stake to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
Prosecutors say Gribkowsky sold the stake without updating its valuation in return for bribes disguised as consulting contracts. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Ecclestone has met with prosecutors over the case and says he is confident he will be exonerated of any wrongdoing.
Prosecutor's spokeswoman Barbara Stockinger said in a news release that Gribkowsky personally took $44 million in payments from the "Formula 1 CEO," identified in the release as "Bernard E.", and an affiliated company described variously as Bambino Trust and Bambino Holding. The release did not specify a motive for paying the money.
The prosecutors said Gribkowsky later used BayernLB's funds to pay the Ecclestone a commission of $41.4 million and added a further agreement for $25 million to Bambino Trust.
A court must now decide whether Gribkowsky will stand trial on the charges.
Prosecutors said the money was disguised as payments to an Austrian company set up by Gribkowsky under phony consulting contracts and paid through shell companies with addresses in Mauritius and the British Virgin Islands. They say Gribkowsky failed to pay German taxes on the money.
BayernLB, or Bayerische Landesbank, held a 48 percent stake in SLEC Holdings, which owned the companies that run the F1 racing series. At the time, 25 percent was owned by the family trust of Ecclestone, the longtime commercial head of F1, and the remainder was held by other banks.
CVC bought Ecclestone's and the BayernLB's stakes and regrouped them in a firm named Alpha Prema, becoming the Formula One's majority shareholder. The price of the deal has not been disclosed.
CVC has said it had no knowledge of any payments to Gribkowsky.
Gribkowsky was BayernLB's chief risk officer and a member of the board between 2003 and 2008.
www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/2011-07-19-1549712059_x.htmTELEGRAPHFormula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone formally accused of paying bribe
Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was on Tuesday formally accused for the first time of paying $44 million (£27.3 million) in bribes to a German banker relating to the last sale of the sport in 2006.Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone formally accused of paying bribe
By Tom Cary, F1 Correspondent
In return the 80 year-old is alleged to have received $41.4 million (£25.4 million) in commissions from Bayerische Landesbank, the state-owned German bank, while Ecclestone’s family trust Bambino Holdings was paid a further $25 million (£15.5 million).
If the timing of the announcement, just days before the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring on Sunday, seemed more than coincidental, setting the agenda before the start of the weekend, the development is not as dramatic as it might have been.
It remains unclear whether Ecclestone will actually be forced to stand trial either in Germany or the UK.
It seems certain, however, that Gerhard Gribkowsky – the man accused of accepting the bribe, who oversaw Formula One’s sale to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners in 2006 – will do so.
In a statement on Tuesday, Munich’s state prosecutor alleged that the former chief risk officer at BayernLB sold his bank’s 48 per cent stake in the sport without updating its valuation, in return for bribes disguised as consulting contracts which were paid into Austrian companies in Gribkowsky’s name by someone named “Bernard E”.
he payment was disguised by two fake consulting contracts with mailbox companies in Mauritius and the British Virgin Islands,” the prosecutor alleged.
“The accused did not pay tax on the funds in Germany even though he had unlimited tax liability there.”
The prosecutor added that to compensate for these payments, Gribkowsky agreed on behalf of BayernLB to pay $41.4million to Ecclestone, as well as $25 million to Bambino.
“These payments would not have been asked for were it not for the bribes to be paid to the accused. The Bayerische Landesbank incurred damages of almost $66.5 million through the conduct of the accused,” read the statement.
Gribkowsky has now been charged with “corruption, embezzlement and tax evasion” and, under German law, a tribunal will now decide whether he will stand trial.
Sources in Germany suggest that is a formality and that a trial is likely to take place this autumn, most likely in October.
Gribkowksy, who has been detained in Munich’s notorious Stadelheim prison since his arrest on Jan 5, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
It is understood that the state prosecutor’s office is waiting to see what happens to the corruption charges against Gribkowksy before making a decision on whether to indict Ecclestone, rather than risk the embarrassment of seeing what would be an extremely high-profile case fall apart.
Ecclestone, who did not return calls on Tuesday night, has always protested his innocence and told Telegraph Sport last month that he did not know why he would be charged as he has “not done anything wrong”.
He says he will continue to work with the prosecutor having already flown over to answer questions in April.
It is unclear why Ecclestone would wish to have bribed Gribkowsky although one theory is that the German was battling in court for greater control of the sport back in 2005 prior to BayernLB’s sale of its stake.
By selling his bank’s shares to CVC, who promptly installed Ecclestone as chief executive, the Englishman retained his vice-like grip over Formula One.
CVC has previously said it has no knowledge of any payments to Gribkowksy. The private equity firm declined to comment on Tuesday night.
It is uncertain if Ecclestone will attend the race in Germany this weekend although he is believed to have assurances that he will be left alone as long as he co-operates with the prosecutor in the Gribkowsky case.
Gribkowsky has so far publicly said nothing to address the allegations.
The current investigation comes amid speculation that CVC may decide to sell F1 in the near future, with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation part of one consortium to have declared an interest.
Ecclestone has pointed out that his fellow 80 year-old billionaire may find any bid by NewsCorp scuppered in light of the ongoing phone-hacking scandal.
Yet the future of the man who has ruled F1 for over a quarter of a century remains similarly uncertain.
With negotiations over a new Concorde Agreement – the commercial contract which binds the teams, governing body and commercial rights holder — at a delicate stage, with less than 18 months left to run, F1’s stakeholders, both present and future, will be watching developments in Germany this weekend with greater interest than ever.
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/8648669/Formula-One-chief-executive-Bernie-Ecclestone-formally-accused-of-paying-bribe.htmlTELEGRAPH - By Tom Cary, F1 Correspondent
Formula One
Q & A on the mystery of the murky transaction that puts F1 in the headlines for the wrong reasonsTelegraph Sport asks some key questions following the accusation levelled at F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone that he paid a $44 million bribe to a German banker.
Q & A on the mystery of the murky transaction that puts F1 in the headlines for the wrong reasons
What is this case all about?
Like everything to do with Formula One’s arcane structure and finances, it is virtually unfathomable. Essentially the controversy dates back to 2006 when Gerhard Gribkowsky, then chief risk officer of state-owned BayernLB, one of three banks which had a stake in Formula One at the time, oversaw the sport’s sale to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
What went wrong?
Gribkowsky was subsequently found to have $44 million in unexplained cash in an Austrian company set up in his name. The prosecutor alleges that this money was a bribe from Bernie Ecclestone who, as the middle man in the overall deal, was paid around $41.4 million by BayernLB, with his family trust Bambino Holdings collecting another $25 million.
Why might Ecclestone pay a bribe to Gribkowsky?
Good question. And one that no one has yet been able to answer satisfactorily. Ecclestone, who has been to Germany to speak with the prosecutor, says he has done “nothing wrong” and will “continue to co-operate fully” with the authorities.
What happens next?
Gribkowsky, who has been languishing in jail since Jan 6, has now been charged with embezzlement and tax evasion. He is expected to stand trial this autumn.
Ecclestone, who is still under investigation, is likely to be called as a witness. Formula One’s 80-year-old chief executive may then be fined, indicted himself or see the charges dropped altogether.
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/8648917/Q-and-A-on-the-mystery-of-the-murky-transaction-that-puts-F1-in-the-headlines-for-the-wrong-reasons.html
