Force Blue: Briatore acquitted; he will be entitled to the proceeds from the yacht's auction.
The vessel was sold at auction in 2021 for 7,5 million to Ecclestone
The Genoa Court of Appeal has acquitted Flavio Briatore of tax evasion charges in the Force Blue yacht trial, "because the act does not constitute a crime." The vessel in question was seized in May 2010, and the well-known manager was accused of evading €3,6 million in import VAT over four years. These taxes were due for entering Italian waters for recreational purposes, appearing as a mere charterer of the vessel and thus, according to the prosecution, simulating its commercial use.
In February 2018, Briatore was sentenced on appeal to 18 months with the confiscation of Force Blue (and the evaded sum) as an accessory penalty: however, the Court of Cassation overturned the sentence and ordered a second appeal, at the end of which (October 2019) the crime was declared statute-barred.
However, the confiscation was confirmed, and at the end of 2020, the Court of Appeal decided to auction the yacht due to the significant maintenance costs. The buyer was former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, an acquaintance and friend of Briatore, who paid €7,5 million for it, certainly below its market value at the time.
Last June, another episode of this long-running legal drama unfolded: the Supreme Court of Cassation annulled the confiscation, sending the case back to appeal, despite Force Blue having already passed into Ecclestone's hands. Now that the judges have confirmed the revocation and the return of the asset to the rightful owner (the ruling can still be appealed to the Supreme Court by the State Attorney's Office), Briatore can at best "settle" for the proceeds of the sale.
The Court of Appeal ultimately acquitted on the merits both the manager and his co-defendants (the captain of the maxi yacht and the two directors of Autumn Sailing Ltd, the Cayman-based company to which the vessel was registered).
"Today, after 12 years and six trials, my innocence has finally been confirmed. A true ordeal that has fortunately ended," Briatore commented.
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