The former Formula 1 chief is not guilty

London-. British Bernie Ecclestonewho was president and director Formula 1 For a long time, he declared himself innocent on Monday of charges of tax fraud, the charges against him in the United Kingdom.

Ecclestone, 91, appeared in a black suit, accompanied by his lawyer and bodyguards, at Westminster Magistrates Court in London.

During the trial, he was asked to identify himself and later pleaded not guilty. The former Formula 1 president remains free until the next hearing scheduled for September 19.

Ecclestone is accused of failing to report to the British tax authorities more than £400m (€473m, $473.3m) in assets held abroad between 2013 and 2016.

Prosecutors authorized his indictment in July after a tax investigation described as “complicated and international”.

Ecclestone has ruled in Formula 1 for nearly 40 years. He left his position as head of the elite in global motorsport in January 2017, after being fired by the discipline’s new commercial rights owner, US Liberty Media Group.

The short-lived racing driver in the late 1950s and later Brabham’s team boss, the British businessman, whose fortune Forbes estimated at more than 2.5 billion pounds (€2.948 million, $2.952 million), is considered the architect of the Brabham team. F1 conversion, turning it into a profitable activity.

Specifically, at the end of the seventies she was one of the pioneers in the commercialization of the rights to rebroadcast sports events.