What is Bernie up to now?

snowy

Champion Elect
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28547377

Surely offering a settlement of £20m to settle a charge of bribery and corruption is another attempt at bribery and corruption!

On Tuesday, Mr Ecclestone's defence team called for proceedings to be stopped because of a lack of evidence and said the F1 chief was prepared to pay a settlement fee.

Sven Thomas, one of Mr Ecclestone's lawyers, was reported as saying that state prosecutors were open to the proposal but said they would have to review it in detail.
 
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Well that doesn't seem right surely these are criminal charges he is facing as it carries up to 10 years in the slammer wouldn't it be a vast injustice to let those that can afford it to buy their way out of these charges and throwing a the key on the those that can't
 
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I have been doing some swatting up and indeed you can buy your way out of trouble under German law as long as all parties agree.

A very strange state of affairs I must say, Bernie and his team of hyena's must have known this all along.
 
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Far be it from me to defend Mr E, but if all parties were to agree that there was a lack of evidence in the case against him, and he were to make an offer to bring to an end the huge waste of everyone's time and money, wouldn't that be a good thing?
 
So, in essence, business as usual in F1 - weird pronouncements, dubious GP venues, ludicrous rule changes, FOM ban on anything F1-related happening on that there interweb, until the ghastly gnome falls off the perch and Flavio takes over...:facepalm:
 
So the prosecutor has to agree that his case hasn't got a leg to stand on and that costs the defendant £20 million...

However you cut it, that is FUBB!
 
It's likely more of a case that the prosecutor isn't sure of a win, and neither is Bernie, so this legally covers them all from embarrassment despite being pretty unsatisfactory. Obviously Bernie had much more to lose, so I'm surprised the number isn't higher. Looks like we'll [allegedly] have another couple of obscure locations [allegedly] prepared to pay a [allegedly] big finders fee to [allegedly] recoup it as quickly as possible. It would also not surprise me in the slightest if [allegedly] it was being looked at as a tax write off. Ah, the games one can play with big bucks.[Allegedly]
 
I missed this and don't know if anyone has posted about it elsewhere but ...

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/03/formula-one-owners-sell-stake-bernie-ecclestone

Some interesting titbits in there, especially the part about CVC wanting Bernie out whether or not he wins or lose his court cases. Also, it's the first time I've seen the figure of a 30% loss in Italian viewing figures. The item mentions a little rise in UK viewers. I wonder if that's because there's a real chance of a Brit' champion this year whilst the Italians are pissed off with Ferrari. Meanwhile, is Fernando still pulling in the Spanish audience? I suppose my last two sentences should be on the "popularity" thread.

So, where are we ... oh yes, another question: Is there any news about Bernie's case in the US? I'm not sure that one has been heard yet and if it has I don't know what happened.

Anyway, in answer to the OP, I think Bernie is busy navigating revolving doors, figuratively, virtually, analogically and in reality. No mean feat for a man in his eighties!LOL
 
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At least they are honest about it in Germany, it's the rich what gets the gravy....
Think it is the same in most countries including the UK, if you have the money you can buy your way out, well unless your Robert Maxwell. It is though Amusing Irony you can be tried for Bribery in Germany and fix the issue with a Bribe. Bit like being done for stealing a car, but being let off if you steal another persons car and give it to the person you originally stole from & of course don;t get caught the 2nd time.

Think the most important thing about this is:
  • Who's going to take over? No obvious candidates. The World won;t allow Flavio.
  • If F1 doesn't have a Marketing Department & hasn't grasped Social Media. Could Clip the Apex be in for a Leveraged buy out in the future as the New F1 Media Monster steamrolls it way through the independant F1 world, taking what it believe is now its own?:dunno:
 
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In the article, I thought the most telling info came from Horner, who said they had ignored social media thus far because there was no way to "monetise" (make money off of) it!
 
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