Ecclestone accused of £400m British tax fraud

LONDON • Former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been charged with fraud over a failure to declare more than £400 million (S$666.7 million) of overseas assets to the British tax authority, prosecutors said on Monday.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the 91-year-old faced one count of fraud by false representation.

"We can confirm that a fraud by false representation charge has been authorised against Bernard Ecclestone," said Simon York, director at the Fraud Investigation Service of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

"This follows a complex and worldwide criminal investigation. HMRC is on the side of honest taxpayers and we will take tough action wherever we suspect tax fraud. Our message is clear - no one is beyond our reach."

The first hearing in the case is due to be held on Aug 22 at London's Westminster Magistrates Court.

Contacted by Reuters in Ibiza, Ecclestone said he had yet to see the details of the charge, but did not appear worried.

"I haven't seen that so I don't know so I can't comment," the British billionaire, who indicated it had not come out of the blue, said.

"It's something that has been talked about happening, but not in the way you said, something a little bit different to that, quite a while ago. They've probably got all excited again. Let's see what happens."

In 2015, Ecclestone faced a demand from HMRC for payment of more than £1 billion in relation to a family trust.

He then said HMRC had not respected an agreement made in 2008 over the "Bambino Trust", set up for the benefit of his former wife Slavica and daughters Tamara and Petra, and he was taking legal action.

Ecclestone was ousted as F1 supremo in 2017 when United States-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 island in Spain, as well as a farm in Brazil.

Ecclestone has continued to make headlines, however, and in May, Brazilian police said they had arrested him after finding a handgun in his luggage as he was trying to leave the country.

He was freed to leave after paying bail, claiming that while he was the owner, he had been unaware of its presence in his luggage.

The businessman, who has a history of controversial comments, caused offence and drew condemnation last month when he defended Russian President Vladimir Putin in a television interview as a "first-class person" he would "take a bullet" for.

He apologised in a video released on Saturday, saying he was not defending the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now approaching its fifth month of conflict, and did not appear at the Austrian Grand Prix over the weekend.

REUTERS