Inquiry launched into 2006 takeover of Formula One
By ANIWednesday, February 16, 2011
LONDON - An inquiry has been launched into the 2006 takeover of Formula One, resulting in the sport being thrown into turmoil.
Accountant firm Ernst and Young and law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have been appointed to carry out the inquiry.
Sky News City editor Mark Kleinman exclusively broke the story on program ‘Jeff Randall Live’ as he revealed the probe will centre on allegedly corrupt payments relating to F1’s sale five years ago.
“The company which owns Formula One’s commercial rights, CVC Capital Partners, a big private equity firm, and the board of that company have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the takeover of Formula One back in 2006,” he said.
The latest developments are likely to send shockwaves through the F1 less than a month before the new season gets underway in Bahrain on March 13.
The move was prompted by the arrest in January of Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former executive at Bayerische Landesbank, the German bank which was among the shareholders in F1 before the sale, SKY news reports.
Gribkowsky, who was chairman of F1’s commercial rights-holder at the time of the sale, was arrested for allegedly receiving a payment of about 50 million dollars. (ANI)
