F-1 Bribery Trial May Shed Light on Ecclestone Role in CVC Deal

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October 23, 2011, 8:05 PM EDT By Karin Matussek and Oliver Suess

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The trial of a former Bayerische Landesbank manager over what prosecutors say were $44 million in bribes to facilitate the sale of the bank’s stake in Formula One racing may shed light on business practices at the world’s most- watched racing series.

Gerhard Gribkowsky, 53, was charged in July with accepting bribes, breach of trust and tax evasion. Prosecutors claim he received the bribes as part of the 2005 sale of BayernLB’s 47 percent stake in Formula One to CVC Capital Partners Ltd.

The trial starting today in Munich is scheduled to feature testimony from Formula One Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ecclestone, who is also being investigated, and CVC managing partner Donald Mackenzie. The criminal trial is one of several lawsuits stemming from the transaction in Germany and England.

“It’s going to be fascinating,” Tom Cannon, a professor at England’s Liverpool University who has researched the way Formula One and other sports are financed, said. “Ecclestone has found ways of resolving conflicts before they got to court; this time, he hasn’t managed to.”

BayernLB acquired the Formula One stake following the 2002 bankruptcy of Leo Kirch’s media group. Gribkowsky, BayernLB’s chief risk officer at the time, quickly clashed with the Formula One chief and sued him in a London court over corporate governance rules Ecclestone changed to limit the lender’s influence.

$50 Million Demand

Ecclestone wanted to push BayernLB out and saw a chance when CVC signaled its interest, prosecutors said in the indictment. Gribkowsky demanded $50 million from Ecclestone as a reward for consenting to the deal and threatened to disclose possible tax violation by a trust run by Ecclestone’s wife at the time, prosecutors said.

Both men agreed on a plan that funneled $44 million to Gribkowsky through sham contracts and off-shore companies, according to prosecutors. Gribkowsky then single-handedly negotiated the purchase agreement without seeking alternative bids, prosecutors said. BayernLB’s share was sold for 840 million euros.

Rainer Bruessow, Gribkowsky’s lawyer, didn’t reply to an e- mail seeking comment last week. He said in August that the evidence in the indictment doesn’t sustain the charges and that prosecutors didn’t look at exculpatory facts.

CVC had no knowledge of any payment to Gribkowsky, the company said in an e-mailed statement last week.

Nov. 9 Testimony

Ecclestone, who has denied any wrongdoing, is scheduled to testify Nov. 9 and 10. His attorney Sven Thomas didn’t reply to an e-mail seeking comment.

Because Ecclestone didn’t want to pick up the tab for the bribes, Gribkowsky set up another scam to funnel money from BayernLB to the Formula One chief, according to the indictment. The bank manager signed a sham contract under which BayernLB had to pay Ecclestone a kickback of $41.4 million and another $25 million to his then wife’s trust, prosecutors claim.

For BayernLB, which received a 10 billion-euro ($13.9 billion) government bailout following losses on U.S. subprime mortgages, the trial is one of several legal issues. In June, Munich prosecutors charged the lender’s former management with breach of trust over the 2007 purchase of Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank International AG.

‘Quick Solution’

“A quick solution of the Gribkowsky case is of particular importance to BayernLB to prevent it from leading a permanent multi-front war with its owners, clients, bank supervisors and EU authorities,” said Bernd Rudolph, an finance professor at Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians-University.

BayernLB had its internal audit department check the bank’s processes during the Formula One sale and also asked an external auditor to verify the sales price, BayernLB spokesman Matthias Luecke said. Neither review found any wrongdoing, he said.

A day before he was arrested in January, Gribkowsky told prosecutors he was aware of the fact that he didn’t “really have a right” to the money he received and that he was “just lucky,” according to a memo by Munich prosecutors obtained by Bloomberg News.

His plan was to use the money to help children with cancer, the document cites him as saying. Ecclestone initially offered him even $80 million, Gribkowsky said. Prosecutor told him his claims were “implausible,” according to the memo.

Gribkowsky has been in custody since Jan. 5. The court has scheduled 26 days of trial and about 40 witnesses have been called to testify.

--With assistance from Alex Duff in Madrid. Editors: Anthony Aarons, Chris Elser

To contact the reporter on this story: Karin Matussek in Munich via kmatussek@bloomberg.net; Oliver Suess in Munich at osuess@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@Bloomberg.net.

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