Ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to pay over US$800 million after withholding his Singapore assets in UK tax fraud

Formula One mogul Bernie Ecclestone has pleaded guilty to a criminal tax fraud charge for failing to tell British authorities about assets held in a Singapore bank of around £400 million (US$490 million).

He has agreed to pay more than £652 million pounds (US$800 million) to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), prosecutors said on Thursday.

The 92-year-old billionaire – who ruled the sport for four decades until departing in 2017 – appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London and pleaded to one count of fraud by false representation, just over a month before he was due to stand trial.

Ecclestone, accompanied by his wife Fabiana, spoke only to confirm his name and to enter his plea.

He was charged with failing to declare the overseas account following an investigation into his finances by HMRC.

Prosecutors said Ecclestone made untrue or misleading representations to HMRC at a 2015 meeting, when he said he “established only a single trust” in favour of his three daughters.

Prosecution lawyer Richard Wright said that when Ecclestone was asked by tax officers if he had any other overseas trusts beyond that one, he replied that he did not. The Singapore bank account was held by Bank Julius Baer, a private Swiss bank.

“Mr. Ecclestone recognised it was wrong to answer the questions he did,” Wright said. “He now accepts some tax is due in relation to these matters.”

The prosecutor said the tax authorities will pursue a civil settlement in relation to tax liabilities. Ecclestone would pay £652 million to HMRC, lawyers said.

The British businessman, whose financial net worth has been estimated at some US$3 billion, is widely credited with transforming Formula One commercially.

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Ecclestone is no stranger to controversy. He built a warm working relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin while negotiating to bring Formula One to Russia, with racing taking place in 2014 at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Ecclestone told a television interviewer in Britain last year that Putin was a “first-class person”, and appeared to downplay the invasion of Ukraine.

“What he’s doing is something that he believed was the right thing he was doing for Russia,” he said.

“Unfortunately, he’s like a lot of businesspeople, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time.

“I’d still take a bullet for him. I’d rather it didn’t hurt, but if it does I’d still take a bullet, because he’s a first-class person.”

Ecclestone added that the war in Ukraine could have been averted if President Volodymyr Zelensky made “a big enough effort” to speak to Putin.

Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One world champion, said Ecclestone was an “older voice” who no longer represented the sport.

“We don’t need any more of it, to hear from someone that believes in the war, and the displacement of people and killing of people, and supporting that person [Putin] is beyond me,” he said.

After the invasion of Ukraine, last year’s race was cancelled by Formula One which Ecclestone said did not “make sense”.

The organisation has since terminated its contract for races in Russia.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg