German court says Ecclestone has made $100 million payment, meaning bribery case formally over

A German court says Bernie Ecclestone has made the $100 payment he agreed to last week, meaning the bribery case against the Formula One boss is formally closed.

The Munich state court on Aug. 5 approved an agreement between Ecclestone's lawyers and prosecutors to end the trial. It gave the 83-year-old Englishman a week to pay the money — $99 million of which goes to the state and the remaining $1 million to a German organization that helps terminally ill children.

The court said on Wednesday that the payment was made on time.

Ecclestone faced charges of bribery and incitement to breach of trust over a payment to a German banker in charge of selling a stake in F1 in 2005. Ecclestone denied wrongdoing.