Bernie Ecclestone might want to stay out of Germany for the rest of the year. The Bavarian State Prosecutor is considering indicting Ecclestone in the fall because of new testimony by convicted banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

For background, earlier in the year, Gribkowsky from BayernLB bank was indicted on bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion charges in Germany and received eight and a half years in prison. The charges stemmed from selling a portion of Formula 1 ownership back to Ecclestone and his partners. Ecclestone gave Gribkowsky $44 million to push the deal through. 

Gribkowsky told the German prosecutor that this was a bribe and that Ecclestone knew it. Ecclestone agreed that he paid the money in court but said that it was blackmail. Ecclestone claimed that Gribkowsky knew the money came from a fund in Ecclestone's ex-wife's name that he was keeping secret from British tax officials. 

According to the new evidence, Gribkowsky says that Ecclestone called him a "civil servant," which in the eyes of the prosecutor shows that Ecclestone knew that Gribkowsky was a public official who worked for a state-owned bank.

The Bavarian State Prosecutor plans to bring the charges in the fall, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. It does not believe that Ecclestone will be offered a plea bargain. 

Source: Spiegel