Bernie Ecclestone's Bribery Charges dropped in German court

Things are getting aligned for the racing supremo Bernie Ecclestone, as he finally manages his way out from the bribery trial in German court. All the parties at Munich court agreed to drop Bernie’s case after he agreed to pay $100million (£60million) payment, which is actually the costliest trial buyout of its kind till date.

Bernie Ecclestone, 83 is the person behind the management of F1 and its huge commercial success for four decades. He was allegedly charged for bribing Gerhard Gribkowsky, a banker who worked as a Chief Risk Officer for Bayern Landesbank. The bank was selling 47% of the stake in F1 and it was alleged that the money was paid to Gribowsky to undervalue the shares, so that the CVC, a firm of Bernie would have to pay less to acquire the owning rights of Formula One. Moreover, Ecclestone in one of the trails said that he paid the amount because he was blackmailed by Gribowsky. He admitted paying a sum of $44m (266.68 crores) in the due accordance of threat made by Gribkowsky.

The bribery case was dropped under the German law Paragraph 153a. Now with the settlement cost $100m, the Formula One chief executive is free from the threat of prosecution with the trial being officially abandoned. According to the German law, a case can be stopped and charges withdrawn if a fine or community work is offered, as long as the “gravity of guilt” does not stand in the way.

Court spokesman, Andrea Titz said, “The court did not consider a conviction overwhelmingly likely from the present point of view.” She further added “There was no conclusion on guilt or innocence of the defendant. He is leaving this courtroom a free man.”

Bernie with a total wealth of $4.2billion is 373rd richest man in the world and paying 100 million dollars for escaping a jail time for 10 years seems fair enough. Ecclestone’s lawyer Sven Thomas said: “The $100m is for the state of Bavaria. Maybe they will try and build a circuit. I will propose this – that they should build a nice circuit. “It is a settlement without any conviction, the presumption of innocence is still valid. That was a condition under which I negotiated.”