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Ecclestone gets off bribery case

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6th Aug 2014
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F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has had his bribery trial ended, by paying a Munich court US$100m (£60m).

The payment means he is found neither guilty nor not guilty, the BBC reports, and that he can walk free from court.

He was able to do this due to a German legal provision (known as paragraph 153a), which allows some cases - including ones that are going to be particularly difficult to reach a judgement on - to be ended by payment. 

Included in the mitigating circumstances in which the judge accepted the payment were Ecclestone's older age. 

The judge, Peter Noll, ruled that US$99m would go into Bavarian state coffers and the other US$1m would go to a children's hospital.

The provision exists to ease the burden on courts, but as the BBC goes on to explain, it's usually invoked before a trial starts rather than mid-trial.

Ecclestone was indicted on a bribery charge in July last year, relating to a US$44m (£29m) payment to German banker Gerhard Gribowsky of BayernLB, linked to the sale of a stake in F1. 

The racing head denied any wrongdoing and said the money was intended to stop the banker from exposing him to a UK tax inquiry. He said he was worried Gribkowsky would tell the tax authorities he had set up an offshore family trust.

The banker was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for accepting bribes.

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By Bagel
06th Aug 2014 16:28

Aah, paragraph 153a...

I always forget about paragraph 153a. A useful one to have.

So, Bernie has got off a bribery charge by paying a ?... can't really think what word fits there.

Looking forward to reading the biography once he's no longer around.

 

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