Ecclestone agrees to pay record $100m to settle case

A German court dropped the bribery case against Bernie Ecclestone after the Formula One chief agreed to make a $100 million (€74.7m) payment, ending a trial that lasted more than three months.

The Munich state court announced its decision to drop proceedings against the 83-year-old hours after prosecutors said they had agreed to the move.

Ecclestone is now free to concentrate on running the global racing series.

Ecclestone went on trial in late April on charges of bribery and incitement to breach of trust, which can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

After hearing the evidence so far, “the court did not consider a conviction overwhelmingly likely from the present point of view,” court spokeswoman Andrea Titz said.

With yesterday’s decision, “there was no conclusion on guilt or innocence of the defendant,” she said. “He is leaving this courtroom a free man.”

The charges involved a $44 million (€32.9m) payment to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, who is serving an eight-year sentence for taking the money. Gribkowsky was convicted of corruption, tax evasion and breach of trust in a trial led by the same judge who heard Ecclestone’s case, Peter Noll.

Ecclestone denied wrongdoing and contends that Gribkowsky, who was in charge of selling German bank BayernLB’s 47% stake in F1 in 2005, blackmailed him. The court said it seriously doubted that bribery could be proven.

Prosecutors alleged that the payment was meant to facilitate the sale of Munich-based bank BayernLB’s stake in Formula One to a buyer of Ecclestone’s liking.

Still, the court noted in yesterday’s decision that witness testimony suggested the sale of the stake to CVC Capital Partners was “an unexpectedly profitable deal” for the bank.

The $100 million is believed to be a record for such a payment.

Noll, the judge, stressed that the size of the payment took into account the assets of the defendant, and said Ecclestone had given assurances that the $100 million represented “an appreciable portion” of his wealth without overburdening him, news agency dpa reported. According to Forbes magazine, Ecclestone and his family are worth $4.2 billion.