Ecclestone held in Brazil after taking gun on to jet
MOTOR racing tycoon Bernie Ecclestone was arrested at a Brazilian airport as he attempted to board a private plane after a gun was found in his luggage, according to local police.
São Paulo’s civil police found an unlicensed 32-calibre LW Seecamp pistol in the 91-year-old’s carry-on luggage during an X-ray screening, reportedly stashed inside a shirt pocket.
The former Formula One boss was preparing to fly to Switzerland on his private jet on Wednesday, departing from Viracopos airport in Campinas, 60 miles from São Paulo.
Ecclestone acknowledged that he had purchased the gun from a Formula One mechanic five years prior but that it had not been licensed in his name.
He claimed he was unaware it was in his luggage, police said. The weapon was reportedly unloaded and did not have its magazine.
Police arrested Ecclestone, who was later released after posting a bail of R$6,060 (about £1,000). According to the police report, he was then free to board his flight to Switzerland, but law enforcement say they will continue to investigate the incident.
Ecclestone had been in Brazil since the beginning of May, where he visited a number of motor racing events around the state of São Paulo.
He also visited the capital, Brasilia, to attend a ceremony inaugurating the
Officers agreed to allow him to post bail due to the ‘notable personal fortune and age of the suspect’
redevelopment of the Autodromo Nelson Piquet race circuit. Piquet won the Formula One World Championship twice in the 1980s while driving for Ecclestone’s Brabham race team.
Ecclestone regularly spends time in the country, alongside Fabiana, his Brazilian-born wife, and Ace, their oneyear-old son.
She is the current South American vice-president of the motor sport governing body FIA.
The couple have owned a 500-acre coffee farm in the São Paulo city of Amparo since 2012, where they manufacture and sell their Celebrity Coffee brand of gourmet beans.
In 2020, Ecclestone and his wife spent a large part of the pandemic in self-isolation at his Amparo farmhouse.
It is commonplace for rural property owners in Brazil to own firearms for protection purposes. However, a large share of these weapons are typically unlicensed.
The possession of an illegal firearm carries a sentence of four years’ imprisonment in Brazil. However, officers agreed to allow the business magnate to post bail due to the “notable personal fortune of the suspect” and his advanced age.
In 2016, Ecclestone’s Brazilian mother-in-law was kidnapped in São Paulo and held for 10 days while criminals demanded a ransom from the thenf1 chief executive, who refused to pay. Seven men were arrested for the crime.
Ecclestone’s representatives were unable to provide a comment.