Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone may have been able to buy his way out of his corruption trial in Munich earlier this week, but he won't settle a related damages dispute so easily, Zeit Online reported on Friday.
Ecclestone had offered the German bank BayernLB €25 million to settle a damages claim – a separate deal from his €100 million agreement with the district court in Munich announced on Tuesday.
But a bank spokesman told the paper on Friday the institution would reject Ecclestone's offer. The deadline for a settlement was due to run out on Friday night, the paper reported.
The bank is seeking much higher damages from the veteran sports magnate for costs ensued due to Ecclestone's actions in 2006, when he paid the bank's former head Gerhard Gribkowsky $44 million.
BayernLB believes the payment resulted in its shares in the 2006 F1 series being sold too cheaply to the investor CVC.
In January, the bank announced it would bring a damages claim of $400 million against Ecclestone to a court in London, but the lawsuit has not yet been submitted.
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