Ferocious Aardvark wrote:
Do you have a point there somewhere trying to get out, or is it just that your head can't compute the fact that a wealthy defendant has paid $100m to avoid prosecution, possible conviction and jail time?
PS Berlusconi has got off. You need to try to keep up.
Ecclestone only paid the $100m because Germany wouldn't let him become a politician and change the laws to evade prosecution, like Berlusconi did.
I think Ecclestone is a shady character who broke the law to get things done. He cut some corners so that rather than having legal "partnerships" he simply paid bribes to get his deals done. I don't like the fact he was able to pay a second massive bribe to negate the first bribe, but IMO the fine was the most *just* settlement that could be reached and the best for Germany. The alternative, of Ecclestone spending a year in prison or even walking free with a not guilty verdict, would have been a joke.
Berlusconi is so bent I think he's a shape shifter from Star Trek. Ecclestone is Mother Theresa next to Berlusconi.