Wayne Lumbasi
Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has been charged with fraud over failure to declare more than $477 million assets he held overseas to the British tax authority. He was ousted as a Formula One supremo in 2017 when U.S.-based Liberty Media took over the sport’s commercial rights with a more economy-based vision, transforming the pinnacle of motorsports into a global commercial juggernaut.
He maintains an office in London but now spends most of his time abroad, with residences in Switzerland and Ibiza as well as a farm in Brazil.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Fraud Investigation Service) has been carrying out what it calls “a complex and worldwide criminal investigation” that has led to the Crown Prosecution Service announcing that Ecclestone faces one count of fraud by false representation. The first hearing is set for late August in London.
The businessman, who has a history of controversial comments, caused offense and drew condemnation in June when he defended Russian President Vladimir Putin in a television interview as a “first-class person” whom he would “take a bullet” for.
Ecclestone had described the Russian president as a “sensible” and “first class person” who “believed he was doing the right thing for Russia”. He was also arrested and released on bail for carrying a handgun in his luggage when trying to leave Brazil earlier this year.
