Bernie Ecclestone: Former F1 boss given 17-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud

Ex-Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 17 months in prison suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to fraud.

Ecclestone, who turns 93 later this month, was due to face trial at Southwark Crown Court in November after previously denying the charge.

The billionaire appeared at the same court on Thursday wearing a dark grey suit, supported by his third wife, Fabiana Flosi, to plead guilty to a single count of fraud on July 7 2015.

The court heard that Ecclestone has reached a civil settlement with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to pay £652.6m on October 9 covering 18 tax years.

Ecclestone was handed a 17-month jail term, suspended for two years.

His defence barrister, Christine Montgomery KC, told sentencing judge Mr Justice Bryan that the defendant "bitterly regrets the events that led to this criminal trial".

Sentencing Ecclestone, who heard the judge's remarks from the dock, Mr Justice Bryan said: "Your offending is so serious that neither a fine nor a community order would be appropriate.

"It is rightly acknowledged that the custody threshold has been passed."

However, he said that he had taken into consideration a number of mitigating factors, including Ecclestone's health, age, and that he has no previous criminal convictions.

He was charged following an investigation by HMRC into his finances.

The court has previously heard he failed to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing around $650m, worth about £400m at the time.

Prosecutors said Ecclestone made untrue or misleading representations to HMRC at a July 2015 meeting, when he said he "established only a single trust" in favour of his daughters Deborah, Tamara and Petra.

The court heard Ecclestone answered "no" when asked by HMRC officers whether he had any links to further trusts "in or outside the UK".

Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said: "That answer was untrue or misleading. Mr Ecclestone knew his answer may have been untrue or misleading.

"As of July 7 2015, Mr Ecclestone did not know the truth of the position, so was not able to give an answer to the question.

"Mr Ecclestone was not entirely clear on how ownership of the accounts in question were structured.

"He therefore did not know whether it was liable for tax, interest or penalties in relation to amounts passing through the accounts.

"Mr Ecclestone recognises it was wrong to answer the questions he did because it ran the risk that HMRC would not continue to investigate his affairs.

"He now accepts that some tax is due in relation to these matters."

The court heard Ecclestone saved around £100,000 in fees by bringing the investigation to an end but Mr Wright said: "One could argue there's been no savings because the discovery of the lie has led to significant expenditure in legal fees."

Clare Montgomery KC, defending, said Ecclestone "bitterly regrets" the events that led to him being prosecuted, adding: "It was not Mr Ecclestone's intention to avoid paying tax. He has always been willing to pay the tax that was due."

She said his answer was an "impulsive lapse of judgement" and that he was now in "frail health" with the proceedings causing "immense stress to him and those who love him".

Sky Sports News' Craig Slater reports:

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

"This all relates to Bernie Ecclestone's personal financial situation, so there is no entanglement with Formula 1 as a sport relating to this.

"He hasn't had a formal role within F1 for a few years now.

"He actually began selling off his ownership in the sport as long ago as 1999. He was formerly the commercial rights holder, effectively Formula 1's owner, but bit by bit he sold off his chunks of that over the years. Notably to CVC Capital Partners in 2006 when he no longer became the majority shareholder. He did though retain the status as chief executive.

"That was lost when the current owners of F1, Liberty Media, came in, in 2017. Chase Carey sacked Bernie Ecclestone face-to-face from that job and Ecclestone subsequently sold off virtually all of his remaining shares.

"He had a chairman-emeritus role after that, which was a kind of ceremonial title. That has lapsed for a couple of years now. So no day-to-day involvement in F1."