Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone pleads guilty to fraud

Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Former Formula 1 CEO and billionaire Bernie Ecclestone received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to fraud for not reporting more than $490 million held in a Singapore trust.

Ecclestone, 92, was sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for two years and agreed to repay nearly $800 million to British Revenues and Customs as part of the civil settlement which covers his taxes over the last 18 years.

The judge in his case said he weighed all the factors, including Ecclestone's age, health and the tax settlement that he paid before deciding against immediate imprisonment, opting instead for the suspended sentence.

According to prosecutors, Ecclestone was not truthful when asked about the trust but now accepts that some tax is due in relation to the Singapore trust.

Ecclestone attorney Clare Montgomery asserted that he was charged after making unpopular comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he would "take a bullet" for Putin and calling Putin "a first-class person."

In 2014 Ecclestone ended a bribery trial in Germany by paying $100 million without admitting guilt. He was charged in that case with paying a $44 million bribe to a German banker to make sure a Formula 1 investment would be available to a business he favored.

In 2016 a helicopter pilot working for Ecclestone was arrested by Brazilian police on charges that he kidnapped Ecclestone's mother-in-law.