Ecclestone, former strong man of Formula One, will have been detained at Tires

Bernie Ecclestone, who for decades led Formula 1, will have been detained at Tires airfield this Monday (7 September), when arrived to Portugal in a private jet, for being in possession of a firearm.

According to the morning post office, the 95-year-old British tycoon was arrested by the Public Security Police (PSP) after a “shotgun” was seized inside the aerial apparatus. 

O News to Minutes tried to confirm the information with customs authorities, but so far without success.

A few months ago, it was also known from the morning post office that Bernie Ecclestone and his wife, Fabiana Flosi, will have bought a mansion in Cascais for 40 million euros.

Bernie Ecclestone “sum” legal controversies

This it's not the first time Bernie Ecclestone's been arrested for illegal possession of a gun: the same happened in 2022, at the time in the departure of Campinas (Brazil). He posted bail and was released to travel, but according to reports The Guardian at the time claimed he didn't know the gun was in his luggage.

But there are more legal cases where your name appears to be involved. For several years, rumors associated the British with the Grand Assault of the 1963 Train for its connection to the escape driver, and amateur pilot Roy James: “When he got out of prison, he asked me for a job. I wasn't gonna let him fly for me. Instead, I gave him a trophy to make,” he recalled in an interview with The Independent quoted by the BBC.

In 2014, he was tried for a bribe of millions of euros. Despite rejecting charges of illegality, he paid a million dollar to wake up the end of the trial with the court.

More recently, in 2023, he pleaded guilty to tax fraud by not declaring more than £400 million in a Singapore fund and was sentenced to 17 years in prison with a suspended sentence for two years, in addition to disbursing over £600 million in a civil agreement, according to the BBC.

F1 leader for decades

After leading the team Brabham in the 1970s, the British gained power among the manufacturers, walking a path to the leadership of F1. He became a confounder and director of the Association of Builders (FOCA) later in the same decade. It gradually gained power and later revolutionized television rights. In the late 1980s, he founded the entity that would become Formula One Management. He was at the helm of Formula 1 until 2017, in an era of strong global growth and expansion, until the company behind the championship was sold to the current owner Liberty Media.