Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has been all over the news since Thursday as he pleaded guilty to having committed a $492,000,000 fraud. However, since he is 92 years old now, he has just received a 17-month term, suspended for two years. Hence, while the British billionaire may have escaped jail time now, he was once arrested for his ignorance in Brazil.
Last year, the Brazilian authorities arrested Ecclestone for carrying an illegal gun while boarding an airplane. While Ecclestone admitted to carrying the gun, he said at the time that he was unaware that it was in his luggage.
He eventually paid $1,260 as bail, following which the authorities allowed him to travel to Switzerland. As per Brazil’s law, no individual can carry a gun outside their residence without a special permit. However, despite the same, Ecclestone claimed that he was arrested for “nothing“.
Bernie Ecclestone claims Brazilian authorities arrested him for “nothing“
In an interview with Reuters last year, Bernie Ecclestone explained how the Brazilian authorities arrested him for something he referred to as a “silly, tiny little incident“. He then referred to it as drama “over a nothing“.
Speaking of the incident and the subsequent bail he paid, he said (as quoted by Sky Sports), “They wanted it in local currency which we never had. So there was another drama trying to find the money. I was leaving the country. I didn’t have any local money. It was a bleeding drama, unnecessary, over a nothing“.
Ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has been sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to fraud. pic.twitter.com/StO4P4Uejt
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 12, 2023
However, just 17 months after Ecclestone found himself embroiled in such a controversy, he once again found himself in the thick of another this week. The former F1 CEO pleaded guilty to committing a $492,000,000 fraud on Thursday after he failed to disclose his assets fully while paying taxes.
Ecclestone pleads guilty to $492,000,000 fraud
Bernie Ecclestone appeared at the Southwark Crown Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to committing a $492,000,000 fraud. After admitting to his offense, he handed over $801,911,100 to the HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) to end the probe into his tax investigations.
Since the 92-year-old accepted he had committed fraud, the judge handed him a 17-month term suspended for two years based on the evidence. This means that if the British billionaire were to commit another offense in this period, then he would face jail time.
Although Ecclestone pleaded guilty, his lawyer, Clare Montgomery KC, told the judge in court that her client was not aware of the taxes he was liable to pay because of the assets he owned in Singapore. She then concluded her remarks by stating that the former F1 CEO has never had any intention of evading tax anywhere and has instead always paid whatever amount he is due.
