Bernie Ecclestone indicted

[chillibowl]

the world is a strange funny place sometimes!

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Since that time he has earned many more millions.

Earned? Or just received, bullied, inveigled and generally extorted on threat of taking his undersupported racing series elsewhere?

I do hope they get him. And if they do, maybe a nice criminal prosecution to follow?

[greentrumpet]

Who will use the least incompetent lawyers, I wouldn't bet on HMRC

[Paradise City]

At his age....um....he can wait this stuff out.

[bjohnsonsmith]

The previous coalition UK government came in for a lot of bad press, regarding the super rich avoiding or not paying tax. I personally think the newly elected Conservative government will want to be seen to be doing something about this and will lean heavily on HMRC.

[Paradise City]

I don't think Eccelstone is afraid of the British tax people themselves. He's more concerned with how all that bru-ha-ha will play with the CVC people who will be at their wits end at this point with yet another Eccelstonian controversy.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I don't think Eccelstone is a afraid of the British tax people themselves. He's more concerned with how all that bru-ha-ha will play with the CVC people who will be at their wits end at this point - with yet another controversy.

I doubt his position in relation to CVC is in much danger, there might be some gnashing of teeth on their part but he is the conduit through which the money flows and for them to end that would be unlikely. I would think that CVC would be planning to exit before Bernie is no longer part of the F1 scene so they do not then have to rebuild and the money tree might then not be so lucrative. As for the latest drama in his life there will be an accommodation reached by both parties, there is no way that sort of money will be paid, the number being touted is only the ambit figure to start negotiations.

[Mike Harte]

I wouldn't worry too much about BCE! I would hazard a guess that, in the end, HMRC will slink away without another penny unless he actually volunteers to pay a sum to them in lieu of further investigations. It must be realised that this arrangement between the Revenue and BCE is dwarfed by the other deals that the Revenue made in the noughties, such as the ones with Vodafone and Goldman Sachs, and they are possibly just the tip of the iceberg.

The problem is that the media, especially the printed side, doesn't like to to make too much fuss about sweetheart tax deals in the UK because they all have their own tax avoidance measures in place, so they don't and won't rock the boat too much. So don't expect a concerted campaign to prod HMRC to take action!

[wolfhound]

Not actually indicted in this case but I did not want to start another Bernie thread.

However his mother in law has been reported to have been kidnapped in Brazil with a ransom of $36.5 million (about his or CVC's earnings from a GP).

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/be...eports-802347/

[MGDavid]

Surprised they didn't target Bernie himself as he is worth so much more.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

Surprised they didn't target Bernie himself as he is worth so much more.

The chances are that Bernie might just know some bigger rouges than the ones that have done the kidnapping !

[S griffin]

I'm not surprised by this, Bernie has made himself an easy target with the way he goes about things. Shame

[chillibowl]

sad situation but if there was anyone i would want negotiating for my freedom it would have Bernie doing the talking for me.

shame indeed though as she didnt do anything to deserve this...possible security concerns obviously being tied into stories about the Rio games but perhaps more relevant to F1 are security issues connected with future races in Sao Paulo!

scary stuff.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

Surprised they didn't target Bernie himself as he is worth so much more.

Likely easier to kidnap a relative than him. Probably little or no security.

I feel bad for his mother-in-law.

I posted only somewhat tongue in cheek on Facebook, but I was saying that during negotiation Bernie will make it known that Brazil is at risk from being removed from the F1 calendar for the future. Local forces (fans, police, whoever) will put pressure on the kidnappers and they will fold.

Richard

[Mike Harte]

Although the teams all appear to claim that they like racing in Sao Paulo, they all have to put in place extra security to transport all members of their squads from their hotels to the circuit. This follows from the attempt made on a team of, I think, engineers on their way to the track a couple of years ago.

On a related note, my father was held at knife-point by a taxi driver in Rio de Janeiro a few years ago. Luckily he was released unharmed, but only after the driver had relieved him of his wallet and watch (which was worthless and many years old - a bit like my dad!).

[bjohnsonsmith]

Jenson Button was subject to an armed attack back in 2010.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11704802

[GT6]

not sure the kidnappers understand "Mother in Law" jokes, they expect him to pay money? As stated above i suspect they have a limited intelligence and probably a limited time before something nasty happens to them totally deserved of course

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

I posted only somewhat tongue in cheek on Facebook, but I was saying that during negotiation Bernie will make it known that Brazil is at risk from being removed from the F1 calendar for the future. Local forces (fans, police, whoever) will put pressure on the kidnappers and they will fold.

I though the same. Brazilian GP future is in risk, more with tragedies like this.

[wolfhound]

I hear that Bernie's mother in law has been released by police on my local radio station.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

I hear that Bernie's mother in law has been released by police on my local radio station.

So your local radio station has it's own police force ! how much did Bernie pay them to fly over

[GT6]

So Bernie refused to pay £12m to the kidnappers, and so they released his mother in law

[GORDON STREETER]

My earlier post that was (tongue in cheek) was probably nearer the mark and he paid a bigger gang to find her that quick !

[Richard C]

It's good she was released unharmed. I am sure her security situation is going to be revised after this experience!

Anyhow, in addition to my somewhat tongue in cheek comment about threatening to drop the Brazilian GP, I expect a real factor was the amount of pressure Bernie was able to put on those in power (including an unspoken impact to the GP) plus the natural embarrassment of Brazilian authorities to have a high profile kidnaping so close to the start of the Olympics. I expect people on the ground were motivated in many ways to resolve this quickly!

Richard

[wolfhound]

It looks like one of those who worked for Bernie felt they were not getting enough $$$$$$ according to Brazilian police.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ec...apping-804781/

[Mekola]

I think this is a matter for no jokes...