An inattention cost a few hours of tension. Bernie Ecclestone has been living for years commuting between Brazil and Switzerland, and just yesterday he planned a (private) flight between Sao Paulo and Lausanne to move to Gstaad, where he owns a property.
As he boarded his flight at Viracopos airport, in the city of Campina, Brazilian police identified a pistol in Ecclestone’s hand luggage.
The arrest was immediately triggered, and the presence in the hand luggage of ‘Mr. E’ was immediately confirmed as a US-made Seecamp Lws32.
Ecclestone was immediately arrested by the local authorities (the crime can lead to up to four years of imprisonment in Brazil) and during a subsequent interrogation he acknowledged that he had owned the gun for five years, that he had bought it from a former Formula 1 mechanic and that he was I was always aware that the weapon was not registered.
Bernie Ecclestone, Chairman Emiritus of Formula 1 and his wife Fabiana Flosi
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Ecclestone added that he kept the gun on his farm, within the state of Sao Paulo, and had no idea it was in his hand luggage when he went to the airport.
To make the version provided by ‘Mr. It was mainly the lack of bullets. Before the interrogation Ecclestone refused to call a lawyer with the help of his wife Fabiana, a lawyer who also specializes in commercial law.
In the end, Ecclestone got away with the suspension of the sentence and the payment of a bail set at 6,000 Brazilian Reais (about 1,200 euros).
Once the formalities were completed, and the bail was paid, the authorities allowed him to leave for Switzerland, where Bernie landed two hours later than the original flight plan.
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