Bernie Ecclestone has won his multi-million euro court case with the German media company Constantin Medien.
But Judge Guy Newey did rule that Ecclestone had paid a bribe as part of a “corrupt agreement” with former BayernLB banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.
Formula One’s chief executive had waited two months for the verdict following the civil case in London at the end of last year, in which Constantin Medien sued Ecclestone and other defendants for up to $144m, claiming that the sport had been undervalued when it was sold to the private equity company CVC Partners in 2005.
Ecclestone, who has always denied any wrongdoing, can now prepare for the more serious court case in Germany in April, when he will face criminal charges, with the possibility of a 10-year prison sentence, in Munich’s state court.
There he will face bribery allegations, based on his payment of £27 million to the former BayernLB banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, who was responsible for selling its 47 per cent stake in F1 to CVC.
Ecclestone does not deny the payment but claims he was being blackmailed by Gribkowsky over his tax affairs. Gribkowsky was found guilty of corruption and tax evasion in 2012 and jailed for eight and a half years.
In a ruling on Thursday morning the verdict was that the money was a “bribe” and that there had been a “corrupt agreement” with Gribkowsky in 2005. But the judge said Constantin’s claim still failed because it had been “no part” of Ecclestone’s purpose for shares to be sold at an “undervalue”.
“No loss to Constantin has been shown to have been caused by the corrupt arrangement with Dr Gribkowsky,” the judge added. “That fact is fatal to the claim.” Constantin are expected to appeal the decision.
Ecclestone, who will be 84 this year, was not at Thursday’s hearing. He stood down as a director of F1’s holding company, Delta Topco Limited last month, when it was announced that the German court case would go ahead, although he has remained in “day to day control” of the sport, albeit under the supervision of the board’s chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, and his deputy Donald Mackenzie. Guardian Service
