A labour MP has called for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to conduct an investigation into Bernie Ecclestone’s finances.
It comes amidst several court cases over the sale of the sport, in one of which Ecclestone admitted paying banker Gerhard Gribkowsky a £27 million ($44m) bribe.
He is also being sued by Germany’s Constantin Medien for £60m ($100m) over claims the sport was undersold to CVC Capital Partners.
Meanwhile German bank BayernLB are preparing to file a case against the billionaire for around £245m ($400m) for damages, once again over the sale of the sport.
MP Emily Thornberry is urging the SFO to look into the various cases and investigate Ecclestone as she doesn’t believe the British authorities, including HMRC, are taking it seriously enough.
“We cannot just walk away from this case,” she told Newsnight. “It does seem to me that we have a duty to investigate this. What is the Serious Fraud Office for if not for investigating cases like this?
“We’re two years down the line and I’m very disappointed that it doesn’t seem as though the British authorities are taking this as seriously as they should be,” she added.
“All I can say is that from what we’ve seen in the German courts and the British civil courts, there are questions to be answered. There should be proper investigation by both the Serious Fraud Office and by HMRC about Bernie Ecclestone and as far as I can see that isn’t happening.
“Whatever happens in Germany I want to know what’s happened in this country… I asked them two years ago… and as far as we can see nothing much has happened.”
