Bernie Eccleston

[Jawloms]

BBC News - F1 boss Ecclestone pays to end bribery trial

 

Am I right in thinking that if someone is worth £250,000 (house, car, possessions, etc) that this fine is equivalent to being fined £1,000? If I am, then he has just paid a relatively small fee to buy his way out. Surely if he was truly innocent, he'd go to trial wouldn't he? This just looks to me like he's buying his way out because he knows he is screwed?

 

Stuart

[network41]

One good Bribe deserves another !!

[Trapper]

One rule for the elite. Sickening really.

[madurham]

BBC News - F1 boss Ecclestone pays to end bribery trial

 

Am I right in thinking that if someone is worth £250,000 (house, car, possessions, etc) that this fine is equivalent to being fined £1,000? If I am, then he has just paid a relatively small fee to buy his way out. Surely if he was truly innocent, he'd go to trial wouldn't he? This just looks to me like he's buying his way out because he knows he is screwed?

 

Stuart

 

Possibly. Or to nip it in the bud before there is too much bad publicity. He would be a fool to not have grabbed the opportunity.

 

Two bribes don't make a right, but I'm sure his defence will be that he hasn't been found guilty of bribery so, as he's innocent until proven guilty, he's just saving the court time.

 

--

 

Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger of the Liberal FDP party, criticised use of the loophole in the Ecclestone case, saying it was "not just bad taste - it's really insolent".

 

'Bad taste' and 'insolent' are the first words that come to mind when I think of Bernie Ecclestone.

[sonofsanta]

Paying your way out of a bribery case is a particularly piquant flavour of hypocrisy, is it not?

[ICTDirect_Dave]

It does stink a little, but you know I can't help but like Bernie.

 

It isn't that he lies but how brazenly he does it...

[featured_spectre]

His lies landed quite a few people in jail across the globe...not just Germany.

[Hefferzzzz]

Oh well, at least our politicians arent of the same ilk.....

[Haptic]

That is nothing. Please tell you saw the Panorama (I think it was Panorama) a few months ago which told about his tax evasion and the trust funds set up under his wife's family name etc. As well as the house he bought in London and then tried to sell it (trying to supposedly "clean" his money) If you didn't try and find it as it was shocking and they reckon he owes the tax man approaching the £700 million mark but they cannot prove it, no matter how hard they try.

 

Cannot decide if I hate him as he stupid or hate him as he is smart!

 

Chris

[Miscbrah]

Oh well, at least our politicians arent of the same ilk.....

 

Oh man if you think we're bad, check out LOBBYING in the States! Excuse wikipedia link...

[synaesthesia]

Bernie is a strange little fellow. Like most, it's difficult to know whether to like him or hate him. I'll go for "I dislike him as a human being, but respect what he is capable of".

I won't say it's because he has a particularly lucrative strangehold on anything, or a fantastic grasp of legal matters because with the amount of money he has, he can easily afford to make sure he has the best people to do all that for him.

 

Still, buying your way out of a bribery charge.... no matter what the reasons were for the Germans allowing that, it stinks!

[pcstru]

It would have made some sense (Sense in terms of "Justice") if the maximum penalty he faced was a fine and the maximum fine was substantially less than the pay-off he offered. But to buy your way out of a trial in which you could face a 10 year prison sentence is frankly, disgusting. Germany should amend their law.

[GREED]

Sorry, I like the man in a funny way, in the way you like grumpy old man who shouts at kids across the road, but I place him into the same category of people who will find a special dark corner of hell, as Sepp Blatter.

[synaesthesia]

I do wonder if he's really scared of losing control. F1 isn't as big as football worldwide, yet there is *far* more money involved. A single top flight F1's monetary dealings and sponsorship has been known to dwarf the entire Premiership. And Snow White's miffed little friend doesn't want to lose control of that. Then again, who would?

 

 

(Sorry, the puns were unintentional!)

[GREED]

It's his empire. He is a control freak in real life so makes sense. And if there is wide-spread corruption (like FIFA) then he may also be protecting al of that too.

[wiseoldowl]

What made me smile was the he was on a charge for bribery but German law allows to 'bribe' is way out - interesting! :-) Sorry, I didn't mean 'bribe' I meant pay a penalty fee to make the charge go away, no that's not right I meant ... it's a bribe!

[sonofsanta]

BBC Sport - F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone: I was 'a bit of an idiot' for settling case

[madurham]

I do wonder if he's really scared of losing control. F1 isn't as big as football worldwide, yet there is *far* more money involved. A single top flight F1's monetary dealings and sponsorship has been known to dwarf the entire Premiership. And Snow White's miffed little friend doesn't want to lose control of that. Then again, who would?

 

 

(Sorry, the puns were unintentional!)

 

Probably not, his control over F1 is pretty tight. The only way he's losing it will be when he chooses to, nobody could oust him. Word surrounding F1 is that he plans on stepping down in the next 2 years anyway.

[GREED]

Probably not, his control over F1 is pretty tight. The only way he's losing it will be when he chooses to, nobody could oust him. Word surrounding F1 is that he plans on stepping down in the next 2 years anyway.

 

That's only because his tax bill next year is enough to by all of Spain... all hail King Bernie