So, Bernie Ecclestone did, according to the Guardian, pay £26 million to a German banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky because:
he feared the German might be about to tell the Inland Revenue that he [Ecclestone] was secretly in charge of Bambino, an offshore family trust controlled by his ex-wife, Slavika — a false allegation, said Ecclestone, which could nonetheless lead to a tax investigation and a colossal bill.
How much was at stake? Ecclestone said
"I don't control the trust, but if the Revenue had investigated, the burden of proof would have been on me to prove I wasn't"
How much could this risk cost, asked the judge, Peter Noll. "In excess of £2bn," replied Ecclestone
Oh dear; the price of offshore secrets. £26 million just to have someone say you didn't control a trust.
I'm not doubting Ecclestone: I have no reason to do so. But what is very, very clear is that when in this murky world where nothing is clear the suggestion that corruption has occurred is all too easy to make.
In the meantime, I hope the Revenue are now asking the appropriate questions, £2 billion could help out nicely right now. And I guess my opener would be:
If you didn't control the trust why did you need to pay £26 million to someone to make sure they agreed?
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Why do the BBC pay to have F1 televised on BBC, surely F1 should pay the BBC to build its audience. something wrong at the BBC. Now that BBC have got me hooked on this F1 drug F1 are going to the pay tv platform of the hacker. Who is in charge of the commercial side of the BBC, The BBC allowed/assisted F1 to build their fan base and now they sell out those same people.
As fan of F1 since I was at school in the 1970s I could write a book about the way in which the sport has become the plaything of an elite, with Ecclestone at its centre, Larry, to the detriment of the sport and most fans. SKY and F1 should make good bedfellows. Maybe James Murdoch will turn up as a guest commentator, accompanied by Tamara Ecclestone.
It is interesting that getting a sport exposure on BBC is valuable, yet BBC i assume pays F1 to show F1 ??
I got hooked on F1 18 months ago,
Ivan Horrocks do you think McLaren is as fast as red Bull now?
So here’s a thought.
As an alternative to giving the banks more public support (which I suspect will very soon be necessary) why not legislate that any necessay capital injections come from a forced haircut for bondholders. But not just any bondholders – some are pension funds and other legitimate organisations. The haircut should apply only to those who shelter their true identity in a maze of shell companies and tax havens.
Under this plan they could avoid the haircut by coming into the open and declairing their identity to the tax authorities and show that they came by the funds legally in the first place -revelations that might triggger some interesting investigations and tax payments.
For a change it would be heads the public wins, tails the criminals loose.