Formula 1's Ecclestone Faces Bribery Charges

Motor racing boss Bernie Ecclestone has been indicted by German prosecutors, accused of paying a bribe to a banker in connection with the sale of a stake in Formula One.

Ecclestone has been under investigation since German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky was convicted of taking an illegal payment from him worth $44m (£29m) in the 2006 deal.

It is alleged that Ecclestone bribed Gribkowsky, who was in charge of managing German bank BayernLB’s sale of a 48% stake in a Formula One holding company to CVC Capital Partners.

Ecclestone was allegedly keen to see the private equity investor brought in as a new shareholder.

During Gribkowsky’s trial, Ecclestone told the Munich state court he felt pressured into paying the cash because he was worried the banker would make unfounded allegations about his tax affairs to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.

A spokesman for a Munich court said an indictment charging Ecclestone with bribery and breach of trust had been issued.

The 82-year-old confirmed that an indictment against him had been filed.

"The lawyers have accepted an indictment. It means they have to reply to the indictment which they are strenuously doing," he told the Associated Press.

Ecclestone has yet to read the indictment, but said: "They are alleging I bribed someone." He added that he had done "nothing illegal".

In addition to taking the money from Ecclestone, prosecutors maintained during the trial that Gribkowsky used BayernLB's funds to pay the F1 chief a commission of $41.1m and agreed to pay a further $25m to Bambino Trust, Ecclestone's family trust.

Ecclestone told the court that he had deserved a commission for the sale, saying: "I did a very, very good job."

Gribkowsky, who largely admitted to the charges, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty last year of corruption, tax evasion and breach of trust.

Ecclestone remains central to the motor racing business he built into a global money-spinner and has always said he has no plans to retire.

There is no obvious successor in place, although CVC's ambition of floating Formula One's parent company on the Singapore Stock Exchange will partly depend on the case being resolved.