Sauber-Ferrari in serious trouble? NOT ANYMORE :) :) :)

I remember reading that the guy leading the group was previously imprisoned(?) over cases of fraud. Sad that BMW would pursue a sale with such buyers and throw the team away. I feel pretty bad for the employees, hopefully they'll get picked up quickly if this falls through.

 

Sad if true...

And this makes USF1's grid spot worth what... maybe a fraction of the entry fee, if that's transferable (unlikely from Bernie)

 

Qadbak investments own the Notts County football club in the UK and were investigated by the Football Association for suitability of ownership.

According to wikipedia:

On October 20, 2009, the Football League announced that Notts County's owners had met its "fit and proper persons" regulations, and that while their structure was "complicated" and featured "both offshore entities and discretionary trusts", it had provided "extensive disclosure" to the League on their ownership structure. The League also stated that public disclosure of their ownership structure was a "matter for the club"

Not saying there's nothing to worry about but they have been investigated already by one sporting authority and managed to pass all the required checks.

 

Heres another article, much more in depth. Of course like yours, it's pretty much useless without an interpreter...

http://www.turkiyef1.com/haber/18957/Peter-Sauber-SauberFerrari-takim-patronu-olabilir

 

I read this on the 11 of November:

There are more fears about the Qadbak company, which has acquired the Sauber F1 team from BMW. The mysterious Swiss foundation is also the owner of the Notts County soccer club in England but the latest news from there is that the soccer team may be wound up on November 18 at the High Court as a bankruptcy order has been tabled following the failure of the previous owner Blenheim 1862 to clear a debt. The petition to wind the team up comes from HM Revenue and Customs. Qadbak owns Notts County via a British Virgin Islands company called Munto Finance, which owns the shares of Blenheim 1862. It is reported that as part of the purchase it was agreed that the £400,000 owed to HM Revenue and Customs would be paid, but it has not been, raising questions about whether Qadbak really has the money it claims.

It is worth noting also that there has been a change in recent days on the board of the BMW-Sauber team with highly respected financier Oswald Grubel resigning his position. The chief executive of UBS has not given any reason for his decision.

 

More than a sign. Not good.

 

Wow; definitely disturbing news....thx for posting. I know you've been a huge supporter of Sauber; not something I'm sure you enjoyed posting....Let's see what develops
Kevin

 

$%^&*! &*)^$! &%#@^%#!

 

I missed that somehow. Doesn't look good then for either the football club or the F1 team!.

I'm a bit surprised BMW allowed this situation to arise, although I suppose if the Football League were convinced then I suppose that helped convince them.

 

Can you explain what this means? I thought Qadbak was a "real" (although mysterious) company. Is Qadbak just a blanket for a group of people, and they choose to participate or not in each deal individually? How would they "cash in on the TV money"??? IIRC they get paid at the end of the year by Bernie, so they would have to participate for the year to get the $$$.

I hope it works out for Sauber, they deserve to be on the grid about a BILLION times more than US Farce 1 does.

 

Is this part of the trade off when the manufacturers are replaced by independents?
Say what you will about F1 in recent years, but the shady characters of the past have (for the most part) been removed.

 

I'd be surprised if this article from three weeks ago which I'd have thought would have already been mentioned here is not the origin of the Swiss story

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_feature_item.php?fes_art_id=39516

 

I liked Sauber F1...they had the cleanest image in all of F1.

 

A Swiss team; say no more.

Highly moral and the best ethics there are.
Modest, efficient, clean, etc...

 

Google for a English/German translator and enter "clean"

 

I really wonder how BMW fell into that trap. I mean, what was the conversation there like? "Oh look it says Bahrain Capital International* on their letter, they have to be some trustworthy guys, for sure!" ?


*the name can't get any cheesier!

 

If I understand correctly, There is nothing in Russell King's background that is not in Bernie's (or Flavio's, for that matter) background. Except perhaps his choice of defense lawyers. Regardless, it sounds like Sauber's return to F1 is kinda...kaput.

 

Now it looks like a US investor is waiting in the wings.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/091126163707.shtml

 

chad?