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Filed under: Motorsports, Government/Legal

Bernie Ecclestone, the elderly head of Formula One, has been indicted by German courts on charges of bribery. This follows reports that had the UK citizen in trouble over payments to Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former German banker with Bayern Landesbank.

Gribkowsky, who will be resting comfortably in a Munich prison for the next eight-and-a-half years, naturally has a story that conflicts with Ecclestone’s. According to the German, who oversaw the sale of F1 from Bayern Landesbank in 2006, Ecclestone paid him to undervalue F1’s shares while it was sold to CVC Capital Partners. The BBC says Gribkowsky was paid $41.4 million in commissions along with an undisclosed payment from the Ecclestone family’s trust.

According to Ecclestone, though, the money paid to Gribkowsky was extorted by the German banker. Ecclestone believed that false information was going to be leaked to the British government regarding illicit tax dealings, which according to Forbes, could have cost Ecclestone up to $3 billion.

Ecclestone has until the middle of August to reply to the charges. It’s then up to the German courts to decide whether a trial will be necessary. Based on the he-said-she-said nature of the charges, we wonder how much trouble Bernie is actually in. If found guilty of bribery, Ecclestone could face 10 years in prison.

F1 Supremo Ecclestone indicted on bribery charges originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Jul 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Etc., Government/Legal, Specialty

SV Motors 9 Competizione – Click above for high-res image gallery

Exactly a year ago today, we got our first real-life glimpse of the SV Motors 9 Competizione, an American/Italian mash-up built atop the C6 Chevrolet Corvette and coated in custom carbon fiber coachwork. 365 days later and the dream has turned into a nightmare.

Joseph Viloa (aka Giuseppe Viola), a 58-year-old investment consultant based in San Francisco, CA and the man behind SV Motors, has reportedly been indicted by a federal grand jury on aggravated identity theft, mail and wire fraud. In the process, he allegedly bilked victims for around $7 million – two million of which went into the design and production of the SV 9. And this wasn’t the first time he’s run afoul of the law.

Viloa was previous convicted of fraud, serving five years in Arizona, and is currently behind bars in Maricopa County where he’s awaiting trial for another fraud case from 1990. His latest round of illegal escapades reportedly ran from 2004 to 2010, during which he may have defrauded at least 60 investors.

From what we can gather, only a handful of SV 9s were produced, so assuming the Feds get their conviction, the only time you’ll see a Competizione is at the occasional auto show and – yes – as Lafayette’s ride in True Blood re-runs. Top tippage Brian!

Gallery: SV Motor Company 9 Competizione

[Source: SFGate]

Report: SV Motors head indicted for investment fraud originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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