Former German banker Gerhard Gribkwosky, who is on trial in a large corruption case involving the sale of F1 to CVC Capital Pertners, has now admitted to the court, that he received millions from Bernie Ecclestone and that the allegations against him were ‘essentially true’.
Gribkowsky has been charged with tax evasion, breach of trust and receipt of corrupt payments. The claim is that Gribkowsky received £28m, or $44m, from Bernie Ecclestone and his family´s Bambino Trust. the claim from Ecclestone has always been, and still is, that Gribkowsky basically threatening to go to the british tax authorities, of Ecclestone did not pay the money.
In mid-2005 the sale of F1 was undergoing and Ecclestone asked if Gribkowsky would serve as a consultant, helping in the sale of F1. However, Gribkowsky did not inform his then employer, the German bank Bayerische LandesBank. Gribkowsky then claimed that Ecclestone ‘asked for a commission of $100 million to help Bayern LB sell the business. He said that he negotiated a lower commission deal of five percent’.
