Bernie facing lawsuit over F1 sale

Bernie facing lawsuit over F1 sale

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is reportedly facing a "multi-million pound lawsuit" over the sale of F1 to CVC.

Ecclestone has already been formally accused of paying a £26.6m bribe to the German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky during the sale of F1. However, he now also faces a lawsuit, which has been lodged in the High Court.

According to the Daily Telegraph, German media giant and former owner of F1 Constantin Medien has lodged a case against Ecclestone, his holding company Bambino Holdings, his business partner Stephen Mullens and the German investment banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

The newspaper reports that it is "understood the case involves allegations that the deal to sell F1 to CVC Capital Partners for $1.7bn in 2005 was manipulated by the defendants resulting in Constantin missing out on over $100m in payments."

Neither party has commented on the report.

Ecclestone admitted in July that he had paid money to the recently arrested Gribkowsky but insists it was because German "threatened" to cause trouble for him and his ex-wife Slavica with the Inland Revenue.

"The (Inland) Revenue obviously had to check everything. It took five years going through that. I didn't deal with it," told the Daily Telegraph.

"The trust had to show it was correct. The taxation people in England at the time were in the middle of settling everything with the trust and the last thing you need is for them to start thinking something different.

"He (Gribkowsky) was shaking me down and I didn't want to take a risk. Nothing was wrong with the trust. Nothing at all."

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