Thursday, July 21, 2011

Power + Money >>> Might be leading to corruption charges (Autoblog)

Bernie is at the top of his game, has been for a long time.  He's a Billionaire.  He has two gorgeous daughters from a supermodel wife.  His iron hand over F1 has been and is the stuff of legend - some of have said you either love him or hate him.  Whatever you think of Bernie has has made F1 what it is today - he's built a Billion Dollar business.


And today a story surfaces that suggests Bernie might be in trouble on bribery charges.  That rarefied environment offers a lot of choices and probably very few limitations.  Do those that find themselves ensconced in such a 'protected' place truly feel they are above the 'normal' folk?  That the rules that we all generally try to live by >>> those that reflect generally accepted good conduct >>> do not apply?  Or am I just demonstrating my naiveté ?  I know that bribery and corruption is reasonably widespread across many geographies and cultures, but it's still wrong.  I believe that this manner of thinking is at the foundation of the overall loss of trust and integrity in modern society.  It's wrong.  It's widespread.  It's obvious that the modern sense of 'value' is skewed and seemingly drifting further from traditionally held values of honesty, integrity, and ethics.

Report: F1's Ecclestone to face $50M bribery charges?

Bernie Ecclestone


Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone may find himself in legal trouble in Germany over allegations that he bribed a bank official U.S. $50 million. According to Yahoo Sports' European arm, prosecutors are currently gathering evidence against the F1 honcho.

The would-be charges center around the deal that led CVC Capital Partners to own F1. The courts say that Gerhard Gribkowsky, who worked with CVC Capital Partners, deposited $50 million into an Austrian account in order to avoid paying taxes on the funds. Prosecutors are currently trying to tie Eccelstone, who is currently employed by CVC as the head of F1, to that money.

Not surprisingly, Eccelstone is denying the accusations, saying that he's done everything in his power to work with investigators on the matter, but that as far as he knows, there are no problems. Gribkowsky, meanwhile, is currently being held in jail on charges of tax evasion, corruption and fraud.

News Source: Yahoo Sports
Image Credit: Clive Mason/Getty

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