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Bernie Ecclestone Pleads Guilty To £400m Fraud

Former Formula One Boss Bernie Ecclestone Reportedly Pleads Guilty To £400m Fraud
Former Formula One Boss Bernie Ecclestone Reportedly Pleads Guilty To £400m Fraud

Bernie Ecclestone, the former boss of Formula One, has admitted fraud after failing to declare more than £400m held in a trust in Singapore, BBC reports.

The 92-year-old billionaire did not disclose the trust when asked by tax authorities if he had wealth overseas, according to the report by BBC.

Bernie Ecclestone has agreed in a civil settlement to repay £653m to HM Revenues and Customs, the court was told.

He had originally been due to stand trial next month after initially pleading not guilty.

He is due to be sentenced later.

Bernie Ecclestone arrived at Southwark Crown Court with his wife Fabiana and spoke only to tell the judge “I plead guilty” and confirm basic details.

He was charged following a tax investigation by HMRC, which said the probe had been “complex and worldwide”.

Prosecutors say he declared “only a single trust” to tax authorities, which was established on behalf of his daughter.

According to the charge, he had told HMRC he was “not the settlor nor beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK”.

But Ecclestone was charged when investigators uncovered evidence he stood to gain from the arrangement.

Speaking in court following Ecclestone’s guilty plea, prosecutor Richard Wright KC said the defendant had knowingly given an “untrue or misleading” answer to HMRC when he told them he had no further trusts outside the UK.

He continued: “As of July 7 2015, Mr Ecclestone did not know the truth of the position, so was not able to give an answer to the question.

“Mr Ecclestone was not entirely clear on how ownership of the accounts in question were structured.

“He therefore did not know whether it was liable for tax, interest or penalties in relation to amounts passing through the accounts.

“Mr Ecclestone recognises it was wrong to answer the questions he did because it ran the risk that HMRC would not continue to investigate his affairs.

“He now accepts that some tax is due in relation to these matters.”

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