LONDON — Longtime Formula 1 leader Bernie Ecclestone has escaped jail time after pleading guilty to fraud in Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.
The 92-year-old Ecclestone, who led Formula 1 from the late 1970s through 2017, was sentenced to 17 months in prison, which was suspended for two years. He was also ordered to pay court costs of 74,000 pounds.
The billionaire businessman was acused of failing to declare a $650 million trust in a Singapore bank in 2015 and was scheduled to face trial beginning in November.
The judge said he considered Ecclestone’s age, health and clean criminal record before commuting the sentence.
Eccleston also agreed to pay 652 million pounds to HM Revenue and Customs, the tax governing body in the United Kingdom.