BERNIE ARREST
Bernie Ecclestone, 91, arrested for carrying gun while boarding plane in Brazil
BERNIE Ecclestone was arrested in Brazil while carrying a gun as he boarded a private jet to Switzerland, police have said.
Cops said in a statement they found an undocumented LW Seecamp .32 gun in the former Formula One supremo's luggage during an X-ray screening.
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Ecclestone acknowledged owning the gun, but said he was unaware it was in his luggage at the time, police said.
The Briton paid £990 bail and was freed to travel to Switzerland.
Ecclestone, 91, is married to Brazilian-born Fabiana Ecclestone, an FIA vice-president and member of the World Motor Sport Council.
They attended several events in the South American country in May, including a local Stock Car race in the countryside near Sao Paulo and a meeting with triple world champion Nelson Piquet in Brasilia.
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Ecclestone was arrested on Wednesday at 9.30pm Viracopos Airport in Campinas, São Paulo,
The gun was spotted by the x-ray machine in the pocket of a shirt that was in his luggage.
When taken for questioning, he told airport cops he had no knowledge of the weapon.
He said he bought the weapon from a Formula 1 mechanic five years ago and kept it on his farm in São Paulo.
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Gun control laws in Brazil require all weapons to be registered with the minimum age for gun ownership being 25.
Carrying a gun outside a house is illegal and can only be allowed to certain groups with a special permit- such as police officers.
The maximum penalty for unlawful possession of a firearm is two to four years in prison and a fine.
Bernie was famously chief executive of Formula 1, until he was replaced by Chase Carey.
He and Fabiana live a life of luxury - swimming in a fortune believed to be around £3billion.
Not only does he have use of a £30million yacht, Ecclestone also has luxury homes, a coffee plantation and his own mountain.
Aside from motorsport and a love of Chelsea FC, Bernie has a passion for coffee.
It's what led him to buy an impressive £8million farm in Brazil that's bigger than Monaco, where he creates his own batch called Celebrity Coffee.
Over 30 people work on the farm, where there are around 600 cows and cattle, 18 horses, six ponies, eight dogs, and dozens of chickens and swans.
Ecclestone recently courted controversy by defending "honourable" Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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In comments made in an interview with , he said: "As a person I found him very straightforward and honourable.
“He did exactly what he said he was going to do without any arguments."
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