Author: Barkha Roy
Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has been sentenced to 17 months in prison and ordered to pay 652.6 million pounds (approximately R$4 billion) in damages for 18 years of taxes by Southwark Crown Court in the UK. The 92-year-old tycoon pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion. Due to his age, his custodial sentence was suspended for two years.
Ecclestone was accused of failing to declare £400 million or R$2.4 billion in assets held in Singapore to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the state’s tax authority. His lawyer, Christine Montgomery, stated that Ecclestone “deeply regrets the events that led to the trial” and clarified that his intention was never to avoid paying taxes.
The billionaire, who ran Formula 1 from 1978 to 2017, has a fortune of approximately R$15.8 billion. Notably, his legal problems are not related to sport. The court considered his advanced age, frail health and first-time offender status when determining his sentence.
In the trial, it was revealed that Ecclestone denied the existence of undeclared accounts in 2015 and claimed to only have a trust in the name of his daughters. This false declaration led to the charges, as Ecclestone did not pay the necessary taxes, interest or fines on the funds held in Singapore. The prosecutor, Richard Wright, argued that Ecclestone’s response was misleading and that he now accepts that the tax is due.
The judge responsible for the sentence, Simon Bryan, recognized the seriousness of the crime, but decided to suspend the custodial sentence, taking into account Ecclestone’s age, health and lack of previous convictions. As a result, the former F1 boss will not serve time in prison, despite the sentence.
This is not the first time Ecclestone has faced legal problems. In 2013, he paid 100 million euros (approximately R$534 million) to settle a case in Germany, where he was accused of bribery and corruption related to the Formula 1 broadcasting rights. He had been indicted for depositing 44 million euros in the account of a former bank president.
Bernie Ecclestone’s influence on Formula 1 has been significant. After briefly pursuing a racing career in the 1950s, he went on to manage drivers such as Jochen Rindt and later bought the Brabham Formula 1 team in 1972. Ecclestone’s role in the sport continued to grow, and he eventually became the chief executive of the Formula One Constructors’ Association (FOCA), effectively leading Formula One until Liberty Media took control in 2017.