Bernie Ecclestone arrives at court ahead of hearing over £400m fraud charges
Bernie Ecclestone faces a charge of fraud by false representation over an alleged failure to declare £400million of overseas assets to the Government.
Formula One's former boss Bernie Ecclestone has arrived in court to face a fraud charge. The billionaire British business magnate is at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday after being charged with fraud by false representation over an alleged failure to declare £400million of overseas assets to the Government.
The Crown Prosecution Service announced the charge against Ecclestone, 92, in July last year. Ecclestone entered a not-guilty plea in August.
Simon York, Director of the Fraud Investigation Service of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said at the time: "This follows a complex and worldwide criminal investigation by HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service."
Ecclestone was ousted as Formula One supremo in 2017 when the US-based firm Liberty Media took over the sport's commercial rights.
He now spends much of his time abroad, with homes in Switzerland and Ibiza as well as a farm in Brazil, according to Reuters.
Ecclestone appeared at Southwark for another case management hearing. His trial is listed to begin on November 16.
He arrived in the back of a white Range Rover with his wife Fabiana Flosi before his driver opened the door for him.
Ecclestone is accused of one charge of fraud by false representation between July 13, 2013, and October 5, 2016.
The charge alleges Ecclestone allegedly made a representation to officers of HMRC "which was, and which he knew was or might have been, untrue or misleading".
The particulars state Ecclestone "had established only a single trust, that being one in favour of his daughters" and "other than the trust established for his daughters he was not the settlor nor beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK".
At a previous hearing prosecutor Robert Simpson said: "The charge arises out of a Revenue and Customs investigation into Mr Ecclestone.
"The Revenue and Customs instigated an investigation into Mr Ecclestone's finances... during the course of that investigation, he was asked about any trusts placed abroad that he was involved in.
"The Crown bases its charge on the fact that he failed to disclose a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing approximately $650million."
Ecclestone is on unconditional bail.
