BERNIE Ecclestone has pleaded guilty to fraud after failing to declare more than £400 million of overseas assets.
The ex-Formula One boss, 92, admitted a single charge of fraud at Southwark Crown Court today.
ReutersBernie Ecclestone arrives at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday[/caption]
He said “I plead guilty” while standing in the well of the court wearing a dark suit and grey tie.
Ecclestone failed to tell the UK Government about the trust he had in Singapore where the money was.
On July 7, 2015, the billionaire failed to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account then containing around about £400m.
Before his guilty plea, he had been due to face trial in November on the single fraud charge.
The charge against him was authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service in July last year.
It stated Ecclestone had “established only a single trust, that being one in favour of your daughters and other than the trust established for your daughters you were not the settlor nor beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK”.
The tycoon, who has three grown-up daughters – Deborah, 68, Tamara, 38, and Petra, 34 – and a young son, Ace, was F1 chief for four decades from the 1970s.
He was removed from the position in January 2017.
Ecclestone is also one of the UK’s richest men and was last last year ranked 65th in the The Sunday Times Rich List – with an estimated net worth of £2.5billion.
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AFPEcclestone pleaded guilty fraud in court this morning[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
