Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former banker who oversaw the sale of Formula 1 to CVC, has admitted he accepted bribes from F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone.
The German has now admitted that he received payments of up to $44 million, despite originally pleading not-guilty, in return for keeping quiet about details of the sale which could have prompted a UK tax enquiry into the sports sale, possibly costing Ecclestone billions.
Gribkowsky’s jail term will likely be reduced from 15 years to around nine given his confession.
In his testimony, which was given under immunity, 82-year-old Ecclestone explained why he paid the former BayernLB banker such large sums of cash.
“The only alternative [to paying him] was that the British tax authorities followed a case that would have been very expensive for me,” he said.
“The tax risk would have exceeded £2bn. I paid him to keep calm and not to do silly things.”
