Tuesday 25th May 2010

Briatore accused of £3.5m tax evasion

Flav's yacht impounded over tax evasion suspicions

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Facing charges of 'hooning' in Australia might be embarrassing for Lewis Hamilton, but he must be counting himself lucky he isn't former Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore, who has just had his £17 million luxury yacht impounded over suspected tax evasion.

The 17-crew, 62-metre Force Blue was seized by Police at La Spezia, near Genoa, on the Italian Riviera as part of investigations into its tax status.

Briatore claims the yacht is available for charter at £213,000 a week, and is registered in the Cayman Islands, saving Briatore from having to pay fuel duties.

Italian police say that this is tax evasion and that Briatore owes £3.5m in tax.

Briatore was found guilty last autumn by the FIA of ordering driver Nelson Piquet Jnr to crash his car at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. He was handed a lifetime ban from the sport.

That ban was overturned on appeal in January, although Briatore has promised to play no active F1-related role until the start of 2013.

[soad]

Erm, sounds a bit fishy.

[ctallchris]

Surely he is not resident in any country for 6 months?

alhtough i still think he should be taxed like anyone else

[Chunky La Funga]

If you have a £17m luxury yacht to play with, a £3.5m tax bill is mere bagatelle.

[tegwin]

£213,000 per week!!! Thats a medium family house EVERY WEEK..... I simply can not comprehend what it must be like to have that much money....

[emicen]

How does he actually make his money? I know running an F1 team can be profitable, but how did he get there in the first place? He seems to court sleeze and corruption accusations everywhere he goes.

[Not Ideal]

tegwin said:

£213,000 per week!!! Thats a medium family house EVERY WEEK..... I simply can not comprehend what it must be like to have that much money....

Tegwin - without going too OT and having this dragged into the Boats forum that £213k a week is the base price before fuel and tips (which on boats are a lot - anything upto 20%).

[timmybob]

emicen said:

How does he actually make his money? I know running an F1 team can be profitable, but how did he get there in the first place? He seems to court sleeze and corruption accusations everywhere he goes.

He headed up the US Benetton operation and took a cut of every franchise opened. Made him a very wealthy man...

[turbo-ww]

Not Ideal said:

tegwin said:

£213,000 per week!!! Thats a medium family house EVERY WEEK..... I simply can not comprehend what it must be like to have that much money....

Tegwin - without going too OT and having this dragged into the Boats forum that £213k a week is the base price before fuel and tips (which on boats are a lot - anything upto 20%).

I'll keep it parked and cook myself to save money

[[AJ]]

For pictorial reference:

[Jonboy_t]

[AJ] said:

For pictorial reference:

When did you take the picture of my boat? Did you see me doing my missus (Nicole off of those Pussycat dolls) on the front, or was that when I was thumping one into Pam Anderson inside?

Hang on, nope, that was a dream.

[Chunky La Funga]

Looks like a bottom trawler.

[Cassius81]

£213k per week isn't a lot as superyachts go.

I believe that Greg Norman's boat, Aussie Rules, is upwards of £400k p/w, plus fuel, food, crew tips etc etc... Serious money. And interestingly, he reputedly doesn't let it out to Russian clients...

Don't imagine Flavio will be too worried by £3.5m!

[A.S.H]

Chump change

[Not Ideal]

Chunky La Funga said:

Looks like a bottom trawler.

Is a converted Ice-breaker. And a damn ugly one at that.

Fuel is a joke as well - could prob chug through 4000 litres an hour without too much sweat.

Here is our thread in the boats forum on mega-yachts if you boys care.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

ETA: To add link.

Edited by Not Ideal on Tuesday 25th May 13:46

[Frimley111R]

Pointless addition to the story:

'..Briatore was found guilty last autumn by the FIA of ordering driver Nelson Piquet Jnr to crash his car at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. He was handed a lifetime ban from the sport.

That ban was overturned on appeal in January, although Briatore has promised to play no active F1-related role until the start of 2013.'

[Chuggaboom]

That's media for you !

Ever noticed a recession in media ?....no me niether....shame.

[big_rob_sydney]

Not sure I understand why its illegal to register a boat in the cayman islands. People own property all over the world, have cars registered in various countries, so why not boats too?

[trickywoo]

big_rob_sydney said:

Not sure I understand why its illegal to register a boat in the cayman islands. People own property all over the world, have cars registered in various countries, so why not boats too?

I think the implication is that he's using the registration, and saying its for charter when its not, simply to dodge the fuel tax.

[ctallchris]

big_rob_sydney said:

Not sure I understand why its illegal to register a boat in the cayman islands. People own property all over the world, have cars registered in various countries, so why not boats too?

if you import a car you pay import duty when you have it registered therefore all due tax is paid for. you never pay duty on a boat because you move it around so much. The only place you pay tax is when it's registered so you head of to a tax haven to have it done.

Only the rich can afford to not pay tax

[rallyman77]

Flavio and tax evasion? What sort of propaganda is this?