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Ecclestone rejects settlement criticism
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FORMULA One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone yesterday rejected criticism of a US$100-million payment he made to end his trial in Germany on bribery charges and praised the capitalist system.
A day after the court case in Munich was spectacularly halted, the British billionaire told the German press he could not “understand” people saying he had bought a dismissal.
“To me it looks as if the judges, in their opinion, didn’t really have another choice,” the 83-year-old told mass circulation Bild daily, in comments published in German.
He also expressed regret over the high sum he agreed to pay to end the four-month trial under an accord struck with prosecutors and accepted by the tribunal.
“It’s certainly a bit unfortunate to pay so much money. But it’s more unfortunate not to have the money.
“But actually I find this capitalist system good,” he told Bild in an interview from London, just hours after the court’s decision on Tuesday.
The US$100-million accord is believed to be the largest of its kind in German history.
Ecclestone went on trial in April on charges of paying a US$44-million bribe to a Bavarian state bank executive for help in maintaining his four-decade grip on F1.
He also told Bild it had not been “funny” having to travel to Munich for two or three days a week since April for the court proceedings, but he was now fully back at F1.
“But I want to say one thing, I’ve fallen in love a bit with Munich and its people,” he added, saying he would like to return soon.
“Perhaps even for Oktoberfest,” he said, referring to the legendary beer festival in the Bavarian city.
German commentators were critical of the trial’s outcome, with Bild saying “It’s a mockery! Where’s the justice in this?”
The Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung referred to “cash-till justice.”
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