Bernie Ecclestone, who was the head of Formula 1 until 2017, was sentenced to 17 months in prison (suspended unless he commits a new crime) and to pay 653 million pounds (756 million euros) to the British treasury after admitting to the charge of hiding 400 million 100 million dollars. Pound to the Treasury (460 million euros)

The 92-year-old British billionaire admitted this Thursday in a court in London to the charge of fraud, for which an investigation began against him in July 2015.

Ecclestone reached an agreement with the Treasury to pay 653 million lira for unpaid taxes over the last 18 years and was sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for the next two years.

According to the court, Ecclestone did not declare that he trusted Singapore with a bank account he had. approximately 400 million pounds Moreover, he lied to the British treasury, which questioned him about the issue at a meeting in 2015.

Ecclestone, who initially denied the accusations, said at the time that he had established the foundation only for his three daughters, Deborah, Tamara and Petra.

According to the prosecutor, the answers Ecclestone gave 7 years ago were “wrong” and “could have led to errors”, while explaining that he was not aware of the defendant’s position and could not give a clear answer.

“Mr Ecclestone did not know exactly how the ownership of these accounts was structured, so he did not know whether he should do so. pay taxes, interest or fines Regarding inter-account transfers. Mr Ecclestone admits it was a mistake to answer the questions as it could have caused HMRC (British Treasury) to stop investigating his affairs. “He now accepts that taxes must be paid for this,” the prosecutor said.

Ecclestone was chairman of Formula One, the organization that controlled Formula One, until 2017, a few months after Liberty Media took over management of the sport.