Bernie Ecclestone, former chief executive of the Formula One Group, is to be charged with fraud for failing to declare the equivalent of 473 million euros in foreign assets to the tax authorities, the UK prosecutors’ office announced on Monday.
Andrew Penhale, who heads the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said in a statement that his services had reviewed the elements transmitted by the tax authorities and “authorized an indictment of Bernard Ecclestone for fraud by misrepresentation in connection with his failure to declare the existence of assets held abroad whose value is estimated at more than 400 million pounds.”
Simon York of the H.M. Revenue and Customs (British tax authorities) indicated for his part that the tax investigation targeting Ecclestone had been “complex and international”.
Now 91, Bernie Ecclestone reigned supreme over Formula One for nearly 40 years. He left his position as leader of the world’s motorsport elite in January 2017, after being fired by the discipline’s new commercial rights holder, the U.S. group Liberty Media.
A racing driver for a brief period in the late 1950s, and then boss of the Brabham team, the British businessman, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes magazine at more than 2.5 billion pounds, is widely considered to be the architect of the transformation of Formula One, which became a lucrative activity under his guidance.
In the late 1970s, he was one of the pioneers in the marketing of television broadcasting rights for sporting events.
A hearing has been scheduled for August 22 in London’s Westminster Court. It has not been clarified at this stage whether Ecclestone will be summoned to attend.
