Witness backs Ecclestone's blackmail claim - report

Global Motorsport Media

A witness in the forthcoming trial of former F1 banker Gerhard Gribkowsky reportedly supports Bernie Ecclestone's claims.

The F1 chief executive insists he only paid millions to jailed Gribkowsky amid the sale of the sport's commercial rights some years ago because he was effectively blackmailed.

Bernie Ecclestone

Photo by: xpb.cc

But Ecclestone, 80, has reportedly remained under investigation by the Munich prosecutors as some paddock regulars wonder how the indefatigable Briton could ever be blackmailed and for such a huge amount of money.

Der Spiegel news magazine, however, will report on Monday that a female former colleague provided Gribkowsky with a document showing Ecclestone's links with Bambino, his offshore family trust.

Ecclestone, to appear as a witness at the trial, had claimed in July that Gribkowsky "threatened that he was going to say that I was running it (the trust)".

"He was shaking me down and I didn't want to take a risk," he added.

He was shaking me down and I didn't want to take a risk

Bernie Ecclestone

Spiegel claims Ecclestone's explanation is backed by the female witness who told investigators that she showed Gribkowsky the offending document in 2004.

"I was scared," the report quotes Ecclestone as telling investigators, who have reportedly not found the document. Gribkowsky denies its existence.