DECEMBER 13, 2013

Ecclestone fighting on as legal woes mount

As his legal troubles continue to mount, Bernie Ecclestone has vowed to keep fighting.

As his legal troubles continue to mount, Bernie Ecclestone has vowed to keep fighting.

F1's embattled chief executive is already tackling the Gerhard Gribkowsky corruption scandal against German prosecutors and the media group Constantin.

And it now emerges that the state Munich bank BayernLB is also preparing a mammoth lawsuit against the 83-year-old, whose long reign as the sport's supremo appears endangered.

Ecclestone might be tempted to try to settle the cases out of court, and according to a report by Reuters, his lawyers agree.

But, referring to the looming BayernLB case, the diminutive Briton vowed to fight it in court, insisting: "They picked the wrong person with me."

Meanwhile, amid earlier reports the UK tax office Revenue and Customs was looking into Ecclestone's affairs, shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry has also called on the Serious Fraud Office to launch a probe.

"What is the Serious Fraud Office for if not for investigating cases like this?" she told BBC Newsnight.

"All I can say is that from what we've seen in the German courts and the British civil courts, there are questions to be answered."

(GMM)