Formula one boss Ecclestone offers $ 100 m settlement to end trial

Wednesday, 6 August 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has offered to make a $100 million (75 million euro) payment to end a trial on bribery charges, a district court in Munich said on Tuesday. The state prosecutors told the court they would agree to accept his offer. Ecclestone, 83, went on trial in Munich in April over allegations he bribed a former German banker as part of the sale of a major stake in the motor sport business eight years ago. The state prosecutor told the court that Ecclestone’s advanced age and other circumstances supported the acceptance of a settlement. The British billionaire could have faced up to 10 years in jail and would have had to cede control of a business he has built up over the past four decades. Under German law, judges, prosecutors and the defence can agree to dismiss a case or settle it with a light punishment, although terms for such an agreement are strictly defined.