Bernie Ecclestone ‘s name is once again in the spotlight, but now because he has been accused of false representation fraud, as reported by the Crown Prosecutor’s Office in the United Kingdom
As Sky News has reported, the former Formula 1 boss has been accused of failing to declare overseas assets worth more than £400m (more than €472m at current exchange rates).
“This is the result of a complex and global criminal investigation carried out by the Fraud Investigation Service of HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the department in charge of collecting taxes, as well as granting state aid and administering other regulatory regimes. ),” said the director of the Fraud Investigation Service, Simon York .
“The criminal indictment concerns anticipated tax liabilities arising from over £400m of offshore assets that were concealed from HMRC. The body is for honest taxpayers, and we will take strong action whenever we suspect fraud.” prosecutor. Our message is clear, no one is beyond our reach,” he added.
Ecclestone was at the helm of Formula 1 until the end of 2017, when it was taken over by Liberty Media and Chase Carey , his successor. The authorities will have a first meeting on the case on August 22, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
The former owner of Formula 1 has been involved in many controversies in recent years due to his statements, and in particular for his comments in favor of Vladimir Putin when speaking about the invasion of Ukraine.
“I’d still take a bullet for him [referring to Putin]. I’d rather it didn’t hurt, but I’d take it anyway,” Ecclestone said, adding that he had some similarities to the Russian president.
“[Putin] is a first-class person, and what he’s doing is something he believed was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, he’s like a lot of business people, like me, that we make mistakes from time to time, and when you do You have to do the best you can to get out of it,” he said.
Ecclestone was also arrested in Brazil for a few hours for illegal possession of a weapon when he was about to take a private plane, but he was able to get out of the event unscathed.
