The former Formula 1 coach will be tried for fraud next year

LONDON (Reuters) – Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone said on Tuesday he will stand trial next year for tax fraud related to more than 400 million pounds ($454 million) in overseas assets.

The 91-year-old appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London, accompanied by his wife Fabiana, after pleading not guilty to the fraud and misrepresentation charge at a hearing last month.

Ecclestone was accused of making a “false or misleading” representation to the British Tax Authority between July 2013 and October 2016, according to the indictment issued by the Crown Prosecution Service.

The indictment alleges that the British billionaire dishonestly told the British Treasury that he had “established only one trust” for the benefit of his daughters, and that “other than the trust established for his daughters, he was neither the settlor nor the beneficiary of any trust within or outside the United Kingdom”.

He was released on unconditional bail ahead of his trial, which is set to begin in the same court on October 9, 2023.

Ecclestone was removed from his position as president of Formula 1 in 2017, when US company Liberty Media acquired the commercial rights to the sport.

He has an office in London, but now spends most of his time abroad, residing in Switzerland and Ibiza, as well as a farm in Brazil.

(dollar = 0.8808 pounds)

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa)