F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone Explains Payment To Jailed German Banker Gerhard Gribkowsky

F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone told a court on Tuesday that "a multi-million dollar payment to a jailed German banker was designed to buy the man's silence and not linked to the sale of the motor sport business," according to Jörn Poltz of REUTERS. Given detailed evidence for the first time in his bribery trial, Ecclestone "repeated earlier statements that the payment to former BayernLB chief risk officer Gerhard Gribkowsky was an insurance policy after the German put him under pressure over his tax affairs." Ecclestone: "I was a little sarcastic when I asked would 50 million help you? It was the cheapest insurance policy I have ever seen." Ecclestone, who denies wrongdoing, "could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty and a conviction would end his long grip on the business." The case began in April and "is expected to run until at least October" (REUTERS, 7/15)