Ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone denies £400m tax fraud
Revealed on Tuesday, Ecclestone entered a not guilty plea between London’s Southwark Crown Court for between July 2013 and October 2016.
The 92-year-old faces trial later this year following a worldwide investigation into his finances by HMRC.
Ecclestone is being accused of failing to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing around £400 million when he was previously asked about any overseas trusts.
Prosecutors allege that Ecclestone “dishonestly” and “thereby intending to make a gain” or “cause loss to another or expose another to a risk of loss made a representation to officers of HMRC which was, and which you knew was or might have been, untrue or misleading”.
This has been an ongoing saga with reports of the alleged fraud surfacing in July 2022.
Chief crown prosecutor Andrew Penhale said last year: “The CPS has reviewed a file of evidence from HMRC and has authorised a charge against Bernard Ecclestone of fraud by false representation in respect of his failure to declare to HMRC the existence of assets held overseas believed to be worth in excess of £400 million.”
Ecclestone was head of F1 for over 40 years before Liberty Media completed their takeover of the sport in 2017.
