Ex-Formula Boss To Pay $800 Million Over Tax Fraud

Ex-Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has agreed to pay more than $800 million after pleading guilty to tax fraud in a London court, prosecutors said.

The 92-year-old appeared at Southwark Crown Court and admitted one count of fraud by false representation, just over a month before he was due to stand trial.

Ecclestone, accompanied by his wife Fabiana, spoke only to confirm his name and to enter his plea. “I plead guilty,” he said.

Ecclestone admitted giving a misleading answer to HM Revenue and Customs, HMRC at a July 2015 meeting, when he said he had established only a single trust in favour of his daughters and was not a beneficiary or settlor of any other trust.

“Mr Ecclestone did not know the true position and was therefore not in a position to provide a positive or negative answer,” prosecutor Richard Wright said on Thursday.

He added that Ecclestone had agreed to a civil settlement with HMRC, under which he would pay 800 million dollars covering tax, interest, and penalties for 18 tax years between 1994 and 2022.

Ecclestone’s lawyer Clare Montgomery told the court that Ecclestone “did not know the true position” about whether he was the beneficiary or settlor of any other trust.

“He should have said ‘I don’t know’ rather than ‘No’,” Montgomery said. She added that Ecclestone’s answer to HMRC was an “impulsive lapse of judgment.”

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere