F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to escape bribery trial by paying $100 million

Bernie Ecclestone

Ecclestone gets a get-out-of-jail card

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, will have to pay $100 million to escape his trial for bribery charges laid against him, as per the order of a district court in Munich. The case concerns allegations that Ecclestone bribed a former German banker for a major stake in the F1 motorsport business eight years ago.

Ecclestone has been allowed to escape without any criminal charges by way of a provision in German law that permits the cancellation of a trial under conditions that are "appropriate for resolving the public interest in a prosecution". If the trial had gone through and Ecclestone had been found guilty, he could have faced up to 10 years in prison.

The Munich court in a statement also insisted that the amount be paid as soon as within a week, so that the trial can officially be abandoned.

The chief executive of Formula One, Ecclestone would have to shell out $99 million to the German treasury and a further $1 million to a German hospital charity organisation.

The long and short of the bribery case

The accusation against Ecclestone was that he had paid the former Bayern LB chief officer, Gerhard Gribkowsky $44 million in 2006 to facilitate the sale of Bayern LB’s share in F1 to current owners CVC Capital Parnters. CVC had reportedly guaranteed to allow Bernie to keep his job if they got ownership rights.

The F1 chief was quick to deny his role in the alleged bribe, but has admitted to paying money to the banker. The court, however, said it was unclear whether Ecclestone knew Gribkowsky was holding the particular position at the time he made the payment to him.

"Accordingly, a prosecution of the accused due to bribery is not probable as things stand," the court said, despite admitting that all evidence in the case had not yet been heard.

"Through this abandonment the presumption of innocence in favour of Mr Ecclestone remains intact”, Ecclestone’s defence team wrote in a separate joint statement.

Flaws in the German legal system?

The amount of money that Ecclestone has been asked to pay, however, will attract a few eyebrows regarding the German legal system, which seems to be favouring wealthy offenders.

Not many are convinced that justice has been done, however. Within minutes of the news breaking out, Twitter was awash with posts that pointed out the irony of the whole case.

So let me get this straight: Bernie Ecclestone was charged with bribery and bought his way out of the charge. No irony there.

— Noel McGivern (@Good_Beard) August 5, 2014

After the verdict, Germany’s former justice minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger called the deal as “cheeky” and said, “it would not be consistent with the spirit and purpose of our legal system".