Gerhard Gribkowsky, the banker at the center of the corruption case relating to the sale of Formula 1 commercial rights, has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison by a Munich court.
Gribkowsky was convicted of tax evasion, bribery and breach of fiduciary trust. In his role as chief risk officer for German bank BayernLB, Gribkowsky had been involved in the sale of the bank's stake in F1 to CVC. During the trial, Gribkowsky alleged that F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone paid him 45 million euros [$56m]in bribes to smooth the CVC sale.
Ecclestone admitted making payments to Gribkowsky, but said he did so because he had been threatened with blackmail.