21 Jun 2012

German banker admits bribery in F1 case

11:27 am on 21 June 2012

A former German bank boss has admitted receiving tens of millions of euros in bribes from Formula One mogul Bernie Ecclestone.

Gerhard Gribkowsky is accused of receiving nearly 44 million euros from Ecclestone in 2006 and 2007 in connection with the sale of Formula One rights to CVC, the private equity investor which owns most of the multi-billion dollar sport, and in a shock move he's told a court in Munich that the charges against him are "essentially true".

At the time, Gribkowsky was the chief risk officer for the state-owned German bank BayernLB, which had acquired the rights to Formula One in 2002.

The judge hearing the case had promised Gribkowsky a heavily reduced prison sentence if he confessed.

Ecclestone faces no charges and denies having bribed Gribkowsky to make sure that Formula One was sold to CVC.