Bernie Ecclestone said he paid a German banker £27million in relation to the sale of F1 after being "threatened".
F1 supremo says threat to expose financial dealings prompted payment
Bernie Ecclestone admitted on Friday that he paid a German banker £27million in relation to the sale of Formula One, but only after being "threatened".
Ecclestone's claim comes in the week German prosecutors charged Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former member of the management board at the regional bank BayernLB, for allegedly taking bribes from the F1 supremo.
It was Gribkowsky who managed the sale of BayernLB's 47 per cent stake in Formula One to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners in 2006.
Prosecutors claim Gribkowsky sold the stake without updating its valuation in return for bribes disguised as consultancy fees.
Gribkowsky, who has been detained in jail since the start of the year, has now been charged with breach of trust, tax evasion and receipt of corrupt payments.
If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Ecclestone has long denied any wrongdoing, and also previously expressed his confidence he will be exonerated.
Payment
Explaining the US$44million payment to Gribkowsky, the 80-year-old claims it was made after threats to expose financial dealings involving an offshore family trust known as Bambino Holdings to the Inland Revenue.
"The Revenue obviously had to check everything," said Ecclestone.
"It took five years going through that. I didn't deal with it. The trust had to show it was correct.
"The taxation people in England at the time were in the middle of settling everything with the trust, and the last thing you need is for them to start thinking something different.
"He (Gribkowsky) was shaking me down and I didn't want to take a risk. Nothing was wrong with the trust. Nothing at all.
"I never had anything to do with the trust in any shape or form. He (Gribkowsky) threatened that he was going to say that I was running it."
Even so, Ecclestone has stopped short of claiming that he was blackmailed. He added: "He never said to me 'if you don't give me this, I will say that'."
Ecclestone claims he was informed by his lawyers that it was better to pay Gribkowsky than face three years in court fighting the taxman.
Commission
The prosecutors also allege Gribkowsky later used BayernLB's funds to pay Ecclestone a commission of £25.8million and added a further agreement of £15.6million to Bambino Trust.
But Ecclestone added: "I never bribed anybody or paid any money to anybody in connection with the company. I got five per cent for the sale of the company.
"Bayerische Landesbank approved the sale and approved the commission, which was cheap.
"I should have got more because for that sort of deal a bank would have charged a lot more. There were no secrets."
