Bernie Ecclestone may be extradited to Germany on bribery charges following allegations he paid £26m to banker during sale of Formula 1 to avoid UK tax probe Formula One magnate Bernie Ecclestone is facing the prospect of extradition after being indicted by a German court on bribery charges. The 82-year-old billionaire could be jailed for five years if convicted. Prosecutors allege that a £26million payment by the motorsport boss to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky was made to ensure that a large stake of Formula One was sold below its true value in 2006 to Mr Ecclestone's preferred bidder. But he denies the sum was a bribe, instead claiming he was being blackmailed by the banker over untrue tax allegations that could have cost him "billions." Gribkowsky was jailed for accepting the payment and is serving an eight-and-a-half year sentence. Mr Ecclestone gave evidence during the banker's trial, admitting that he gave him large sums of money, but denied doing anything illegal. Now he has been served with an indictment by a German judge, and will either have to answer voluntarily to the charges or be threatened with extradition. Mr Ecclestone's team is planning to send a response to the judge within the next few weeks. After the defence has been weighed against the prosecution case, the judge will decide whether to summon him for a court hearing. He strenuously denies the allegation - but questions are being raised over whether he can continue his dominance of motor racing as Formula One's chief executive with the charges hanging over him. Mr Ecclestone told the Financial Times yesterday: "I have just spoken to my lawyers and they have received an indictment. It's being translated into English. We are defending it properly. It's a pity it's happened. Mr Ecclestone said it was "inevitable" that the indictment had been issued against him, saying: "If someone wants to sue you, they can do it and you have to defend it." Gribkowsky is alleged to have received the £26million during a huge sale of Formula One shares in 2006. He worked for state-owned Bayerisches Landesbank, which was selling its 48 per cent share in the motor racing company, and he was a major figure in arranging the sale. At his trial in Munich in 2011, the disgraced banker admitted corruptly receiving bank commissions and large payments from an Ecclestone family trust. He claimed the cash was in return for ensuring the shares were sold to CVC, a private equity firm, because it would keep Mr Ecclestone as the controller of Formula One. But the motorsport boss insisted he had been "pressured" into paying because Gribkowsky had threatened to make false allegations to the UK taxman that an Ecclestone family trust in the tax haven of Lichtenstien was fully in Bernie's control. Mr Ecclestone claims he did not have control of the trust, so was not evading tax.