Lord Hesketh, Parmalat and alleged money laundering
Discussion
Very good Beyond The Grid podcast today with Lord Hesketh where he told quite an interesting story.
As we all know the bosses of the now defunct but during the 80s major F1 sponsor are currently all behind bars in Italy but in 1975 they nearly became title sponsor of the Hesketh team. He was told by the boss that they would pay £1.5 million for the season on the understanding that the team would choose an Italian driver. However, when Lord Hesketh met the company's two representatives for lunch, it turned out that the actual sponsorship would be £750,000 and the rest would be 'lost' because "it was clearly a money laundering scheme,"
I guess it was happening all the time back then but it does make you think...
Also he said that the 'teddy bear' logo was never properly licensed and he doesn't get a penny from any of the merchandise but I got the impression that he wasn't actually all that bothered to be honest!
As we all know the bosses of the now defunct but during the 80s major F1 sponsor are currently all behind bars in Italy but in 1975 they nearly became title sponsor of the Hesketh team. He was told by the boss that they would pay £1.5 million for the season on the understanding that the team would choose an Italian driver. However, when Lord Hesketh met the company's two representatives for lunch, it turned out that the actual sponsorship would be £750,000 and the rest would be 'lost' because "it was clearly a money laundering scheme,"
I guess it was happening all the time back then but it does make you think...
Also he said that the 'teddy bear' logo was never properly licensed and he doesn't get a penny from any of the merchandise but I got the impression that he wasn't actually all that bothered to be honest!
How would that work? I can understand that having a business that generates cash is useful because you can say 'this £1 million came from the surprisingly profitable business, not from anything remotely dubious'. I suppose passing money through an F1 team introduces another level of complexity into the money trail but sounds a very expensive way of doing it.
Dr Jekyll said:
How would that work? I can understand that having a business that generates cash is useful because you can say 'this £1 million came from the surprisingly profitable business, not from anything remotely dubious'. I suppose passing money through an F1 team introduces another level of complexity into the money trail but sounds a very expensive way of doing it.
'Consultancy' is the standard MO.Parmalat shows in its books £1m spent on Sponsorship. Paper work shows that this comprises £750k to the team and the rest spent with consultants for facilitating the deal, advising on the look of the branding on the car as well as 'hospitality'.
First glance shows everything to be in order. Dig deeper and you find that the people who run those consultancies have no experience in doing so and are in some way personally associated with the guys at the top. They pass the money back for a 5% cut or not being shot.
IIRC, Parmalat was for a time state owned - or partially state owned. So, regardless of the profitability of the company, those in charge probably felt that they should be earning more than they were officially and saw this as a way of addressing the problem.
Nothing to add other than, what a brilliant episode. I was born in 72 so was too young to understand the Hesketh team. Yes i have read about it, but it hear about it from Lord Hesketh and the way he told the story was just fantastic and a joy to listen to.
One of the best things i have listed to, Tom really does have a good knack of interviewing his guests.
One of the best things i have listed to, Tom really does have a good knack of interviewing his guests.
Listened today.
Sadly Tom came into it with pre conceived ideas that seemed to annoy Alexander and rightly so, a kid brought up on modern F1 simply does not and would not understand that premise.
The number of times Hesketh said "we did not intentionally come in intending to rub other peoples noses or anything, we were just different".
Modern F1 people like Tom (who I like listening to a lot) simply can't perceive of such a thing, hence why they fail to understand that a guy like Alexander or James could be a bit of a rebel yet be deadly serious about what they did, to such a degree that they were on the verge of being huge. There was no plan, they simply got the right people, did the right things and did what they wanted in a sport that people did not do that.
It is why, as Hesketh says, they are still celebrated today, and rightly so. It was a fabulous melting pot and it produced a very deserving world champion who is still criminally under-rated as the Lord said.
Sadly Tom came into it with pre conceived ideas that seemed to annoy Alexander and rightly so, a kid brought up on modern F1 simply does not and would not understand that premise.
The number of times Hesketh said "we did not intentionally come in intending to rub other peoples noses or anything, we were just different".
Modern F1 people like Tom (who I like listening to a lot) simply can't perceive of such a thing, hence why they fail to understand that a guy like Alexander or James could be a bit of a rebel yet be deadly serious about what they did, to such a degree that they were on the verge of being huge. There was no plan, they simply got the right people, did the right things and did what they wanted in a sport that people did not do that.
It is why, as Hesketh says, they are still celebrated today, and rightly so. It was a fabulous melting pot and it produced a very deserving world champion who is still criminally under-rated as the Lord said.
LukeBrown66 said:
Listened today.
Sadly Tom came into it with pre conceived ideas that seemed to annoy Alexander and rightly so, a kid brought up on modern F1 simply does not and would not understand that premise.
The number of times Hesketh said "we did not intentionally come in intending to rub other peoples noses or anything, we were just different".
Modern F1 people like Tom (who I like listening to a lot) simply can't perceive of such a thing, hence why they fail to understand that a guy like Alexander or James could be a bit of a rebel yet be deadly serious about what they did, to such a degree that they were on the verge of being huge. There was no plan, they simply got the right people, did the right things and did what they wanted in a sport that people did not do that.
It is why, as Hesketh says, they are still celebrated today, and rightly so. It was a fabulous melting pot and it produced a very deserving world champion who is still criminally under-rated as the Lord said.
My thoughts entirely. Well writtenSadly Tom came into it with pre conceived ideas that seemed to annoy Alexander and rightly so, a kid brought up on modern F1 simply does not and would not understand that premise.
The number of times Hesketh said "we did not intentionally come in intending to rub other peoples noses or anything, we were just different".
Modern F1 people like Tom (who I like listening to a lot) simply can't perceive of such a thing, hence why they fail to understand that a guy like Alexander or James could be a bit of a rebel yet be deadly serious about what they did, to such a degree that they were on the verge of being huge. There was no plan, they simply got the right people, did the right things and did what they wanted in a sport that people did not do that.
It is why, as Hesketh says, they are still celebrated today, and rightly so. It was a fabulous melting pot and it produced a very deserving world champion who is still criminally under-rated as the Lord said.
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