Ex-Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has arrived at court charged with fraud by false representation over allegations he hid more than £400million from the British taxman in Singapore.
The 92-year-old motor racing tycoon is accused of falsely claiming he had only set up a single trust for his daughters in an alleged failure to declare overseas assets to the tax authorities.
He is alleged to have failed to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing around 650 million US dollars.
Mr Ecclestone appeared at London‘s Southwark Crown Court for a further case management hearing on Wednesday morning. His trial is listed to begin on November 16 this year.
He arrived in the back of his white Range Rover along with wife Fabiana Flosi, with a personalised number plate, before his driver opened the door for him.
Ex-Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has arrived at court charged with fraud by false representation over allegations he hid more than £400million from the British taxman in Singapore
The 92-year-old motor racing tycoon is accused of falsely claiming he had only set up a single trust for his daughters in an alleged failure to declare overseas assets to the tax authorities
Ecclestone is accused of one charge of fraud by false representation between July 13, 2013 and October 5, 2016.
The charge alleges that Ecclestone, who has three grown-up daughters – Deborah, 68, Tamara, 38, and Petra, 34 – allegedly made a representation to officers of HMRC, ‘which was, and which he knew was or might have been, untrue or misleading’.
The particulars state that Ecclestone, who is a great-grandfather and also has a young son, claimed ‘he had established only a single trust, that being one in favour of his daughters’ and ‘other than the trust established for his daughters he was not the settlor nor beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK’.
Ecclestone previously indicated he would enter a not guilty plea at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last August.
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The Sunday Times Rich List ranks Ecclestone, who has been married three times, as the 65th wealthiest person in the country, with an estimated net worth of £2.5billion.
At an earlier hearing prosecutor Robert Simpson said: ‘The charge arises out of a Revenue and Customs investigation into Mr Ecclestone.
‘The Revenue and Customs instigated an investigation into Mr Ecclestone’s finances (and) during the course of that investigation, he was asked about any trusts placed abroad that he was involved in.
Mr Ecclestone appeared at London’s Southwark Crown Court for a further case management hearing on Wednesday morning. His trial is listed to begin on November 16 this year
He arrived in the back of his white Range Rover along with wife Fabiana Flosi, with a personalised number plate, before his driver opened the door for him
Ecclestone is accused of one charge of fraud by false representation between July 13, 2013 and October 5, 2016
‘The Crown bases its charge on the fact that he failed to disclose a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing approximately $650 million.’
The charge against him was authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) last July following the investigation, which was said to be ‘complex and worldwide’.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Andrew Penhale said previously: ‘The CPS has reviewed a file of evidence from HMRC and has authorised a charge against Bernard Ecclestone of fraud by false representation in respect of his failure to declare to HMRC the existence of assets held overseas believed to be worth in excess of £400m.’
Ecclestone, of Knightsbridge, central London, is on unconditional bail.
