Bernie Ecclestone: Ex-Formula 1 boss agrees to pay £650m settlement after pleading guilty to fraud
Southwark Crown Court previously heard Bernie Ecclestone failed to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing around £400m; Ecclestone has reached a civil settlement with HMRC to pay £652.6m, covering 18 tax years
Thursday 12 October 2023 11:05, UK
Ex-Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has pleaded guilty to fraud over a failure to declare £400m held in a trust in Singapore to the government.
Ecclestone, who turns 93 later this month, was due to face trial at Southwark Crown Court in November after previously denying the charge.
The billionaire appeared at the same court today wearing a dark grey suit, supported by his third wife, Fabiana Flosi, to plead guilty to a single count of fraud on July 7 2015.
- Andretti unpacked: What's going on and what happens next?
- Stream every F1 race and more with NOW
- Get Sky Sports | Listen to the Sky Sports F1 Podcast
The court heard that Ecclestone has reached a civil settlement with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to pay £652.6m on October 9 covering 18 tax years.
He was charged following an investigation by HMRC into his finances.
The court has previously heard he failed to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing around $650m, worth about £400m at the time.
Prosecutors said Ecclestone made untrue or misleading representations to HMRC at a July 2015 meeting, when he said he "established only a single trust" in favour of his daughters Deborah, Tamara and Petra.
The court heard Ecclestone answered "no" when asked by HMRC officers whether he had any links to further trusts "in or outside the UK".
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said: "That answer was untrue or misleading. Mr Ecclestone knew his answer may have been untrue or misleading.
"As of July 7 2015, Mr Ecclestone did not know the truth of the position, so was not able to give an answer to the question.
"Mr Ecclestone was not entirely clear on how ownership of the accounts in question were structured.
"He therefore did not know whether it was liable for tax, interest or penalties in relation to amounts passing through the accounts.
"Mr Ecclestone recognises it was wrong to answer the questions he did because it ran the risk that HMRC would not continue to investigate his affairs.
"He now accepts that some tax is due in relation to these matters."
The court heard Ecclestone saved around £100,000 in fees by bringing the investigation to an end but Mr Wright said: "One could argue there's been no savings because the discovery of the lie has led to significant expenditure in legal fees."
Clare Montgomery KC, defending, said Ecclestone "bitterly regrets" the events that led to him being prosecuted, adding: "It was not Mr Ecclestone's intention to avoid paying tax. He has always been willing to pay the tax that was due."
She said his answer was an "impulsive lapse of judgement" and that he was now in "frail health" with the proceedings causing "immense stress to him and those who love him".
