In the past few months, Bernie Ecclestone has become more popular than he was when he owned Formula 1 for 40 years. When he was leading F1, his outdated vision of the sport garnered a lot of dislike from people. Even now, the 92-year-old businessman isn’t in anyone’s good books. Least of all, former F1 driver Felipe Massa. He believes Ecclestone and F1 robbed him of a championship, giving him every right to dislike the former F1 owner. But guess who joined the ‘Bernie Ecclestone dislike’ bandwagon? UK tax authorities.

Massa filed a lawsuit against the FIA in August. Even before that, though, Ecclestone was already in trouble for something he did—or rather, didn’t do—back in July 2015. With both cases’ judgment day approaching—Massa’s in mid-October and the other one in November—Ecclestone has gotten himself out of one trial.

Bernie Ecclestone didn’t know what he was doing

In his 40 years as CEO of F1, he amassed a whopping fortune of more than $3 billion. Turns out, he put $650 million in a trust for his daughters. Seems like a nice thing to do, right? Well, as it so happens, the F1 Supremo didn’t declare the trust to UK tax authorities. As reported by The Guardian, “Ecclestone is accused of fraud by false representation after allegedly failing to declare the existence of a trust in Singapore.” In June, he pleaded not guilty and was set for a trial in November. Guess what? The trial is not going to happen.

This accusation first arose after a tax investigation by HR Revenues and Customs (HMRC). Initially, Ecclestone declared just one trust to authorities set up for one of his daughters. What he failed to do was declare the $650 million trust in Singapore, claiming that he was “not the settlor nor beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK.” But now, the case has taken a turn, and so has Ecclestone. As per the BBC, “Appearing at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, [Ecclestone] told the judge, ‘I plead guilty’ after having previously pleaded not guilty.” 

The thing is, Ecclestone had no idea that the Singapore trust was liable for tax. The prosecutor of the case spoke after Ecclestone’s guilty plea. They said, “Mr. Ecclestone was not entirely clear on how ownership of the accounts in question was structured [when he was initially accused]. He, therefore, did not know whether it was liable for tax, interest, or penalties in relation to amounts passing through the accounts.” Now, he has understood that the trust, in fact, is taxable. While the HMRC will charge him for this, any further action to be taken against the UK businessman is unknown.

Read More: Felipe Massa’s Claim Takes Severe Hit as F1 Megalomaniac Bernie Ecclestone Past Record Comes Back to Haunt Him

A trust in Singapore was the case for this conviction. Surprisingly, Singapore is also the scene of and basis for Felipe Massa’s accusation.

Singapore will likely haunt Ecclestone for life

Back in 2008, Massa was up against Lewis Hamilton in the championship battle. The Singapore GP that year became the scene of the biggest scandal F1 has seen—Crashgate. When Massa was leading the race, Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed on purpose so that his then-teammate Fernando Alonso could win the race. While it worked out in Alonso’s favor, Massa finished the race outside the points, and Hamilton finished P3. Considering he lost the championship by just one point, Massa feels Crashgate was the turning point. But what instigated him to file a lawsuit to claim the 2008 title?

In an interview earlier this year, Ecclestone said, “We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal. I still feel sorry for Massa today. He was cheated out of the title he deserved, while Hamilton had all the luck in the world and won his first championship.” That’s all that Massa needed to file the case. But as it turns out, Ecclestone went back on his admission, saying, “I don’t remember any of this, to be honest. I don’t remember giving the interview for sure.” Despite this, Massa is set to take the case to court in mid-October to fight for what he feels is rightfully his.

What is your take on everything Bernie Ecclestone is facing right now?

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