Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, 91, was arrested for carrying an illegal weapon at a Brazilian airport and then released on bail overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, several local media reported.
The Brazilian police explained in a statement sent to AFP on Thursday that they had drawn up a "report for flagrante delicto of illegally carrying a firearm", without specifying the identity of the former leader of the queen category of motoring.
Ecclestone arrested in Brazil for illegally carrying a gun https://t.co/jQiayHkkvU pic.twitter.com/ZtWDdw42vO
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 26, 2022
The weapon in question, "a small silver .32 caliber pistol without ammunition", was "found in hand luggage" (a shirt pocket) scanned during routine checks at Viracopos airport, near Sao Paulo.
The British businessman was brought to the police station, where he was finally released on bail after paying the sum of 6,060 reals (about 1,200 euros).
According to the G1 news site, he left Brazilian soil shortly after his release, aboard a private jet bound for Switzerland, in the company of Fabiana, his Brazilian wife, 46 years his junior.
A fortune estimated at 3.5 billion euros
G1 also recounts that Mr. Ecclestone allegedly claimed he did not know the gun was in his hand luggage, even though he admitted to being its owner.
He would also have explained that he bought this gun five years ago from a mechanic in an F1 team.
Bernie Ecclestone stepped down as tutelary leader in January 2017 after thirty years of unchallenged power.
He was then dismissed by the new holder of the commercial rights of the discipline, the American group Liberty Media, and replaced by the Irishman Chase Carey.
This Chelsea fan, noted for his tendentious, even racist remarks, also involved in the "Panama Papers" affair, has since managed a fortune estimated at around 3.5 billion euros.