Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has pleaded guilty to fraud after failing to declare over £400 million held in a trust in Singapore to the government. The 92-year-old made his admission at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, standing in the well of the court wearing a dark suit and grey tie.
The charges against Ecclestone relate to an incident on July 7, 2015, when he neglected to disclose a trust in Singapore, which held a bank account containing approximately $650 million US dollars, equivalent to £400 million at that time.
According to the charge, Ecclestone, who has three grown-up daughters named Deborah, Tamara, and Petra, and a young son named Ace, had “established only a single trust, that being one in favour of your daughters, and other than the trust established for your daughters, you were not the settlor nor beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK.”
Prior to his guilty plea, Ecclestone was due to face trial in November on the single fraud charge.
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Ecclestone had answered “no” when questioned by HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) officers about any connections to further trusts “in or outside the UK.” However, it was later determined that this answer was untrue or misleading, and Ecclestone was aware of the potential falsehood.
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC stated, “Mr. Ecclestone knew his answer may have been untrue or misleading. As of 7 July 2015, Mr. Ecclestone did not know the truth of the position, so he was not able to give an answer to the question. Mr. Ecclestone was not entirely clear on how ownership of the accounts in question was structured. He therefore did not know whether it was liable for tax, interest, or penalties in relation to amounts passing through the accounts.”
Wright continued, “Mr. Ecclestone recognises it was wrong to answer the questions he did because it ran the risk that HMRC would not continue to investigate his affairs. He now accepts that some tax is due in relation to these matters.”
