Reuters - Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has been charged with fraud for failing to declare more than 400 million pounds ($668.6 million) in overseas assets to Britain's tax authority, prosecutors said yesterday.
- Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has been charged with fraud for failing to declare more than 400 million pounds ($668.6 million) in overseas assets to the British tax authority, prosecutors said yesterday.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Ecclestone, 91, will face a charge of fraud by false representation.
"This follows a complex, worldwide criminal investigation by HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service," said Simon York, director of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Fraud Investigation Service.
The first hearing in his case is due to be held on August 22 at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.
Contacted by in Ibiza, Ecclestone said he has not yet seen the details.
"I haven't seen it, so I don't know, so I can't comment," he said when the statement was read to him.
The British billionaire indicated that it didn't come out of nowhere, however.
"It's something that was talked about happening, but not in the way you said, something a little different from that a while ago," he said. "They probably got all excited again. We'll see what happens."
In 2015, Ecclestone faced a demand from HMRC for payment of more than 1 billion pounds ($1.19 billion) in relation to a family trust.
He said then that HMRC had not respected an agreement made in 2008 about the 'Bambino Trust', set up for the benefit of his former wife Slavica and daughters Tamara and Petra, and that he was taking legal action.
The Briton was stripped of his position as Formula One boss in 2017, when US-based Liberty Media took over the sport's commercial rights.
He maintains an office in London, but now spends most of his time abroad, with residences in Switzerland and Ibiza, as well as a farm in Brazil.
However, he continued to make headlines, and in May Brazilian police said they arrested him after finding a gun in his luggage while trying to leave the country.
Ecclestone acknowledged possession, but said he did not know it was in his luggage. He was released to leave after posting bail.
The businessman, who has a history of controversial comments, took offense and was convicted in June when he defended Russian President Vladimir Putin in a television interview as a "first-class person" for whom he would "get shot."
He apologized in a video released Saturday, saying he was not defending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.