Ecclestone's pilot held for mother-in-law kidnapping

A Brazilian helicopter pilot used by Bernie Ecclestone has been arrested over the kidnapping of the F1 boss's mother-in-law.

Jorge Eurico da Silva Faria - "the wealthy boss of a helicopter company that has already raked in cash working for Mr ­Ecclestone's business", says the Daily Mirror - is alleged to have masterminded the operation.

Aparecida Schunck was rescued unharmed from a rented flat in Sao Paulo yesterday after being abducted from her home in the city on 22 July.

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Faria allegedly had intimate knowledge of her movements and habits and "was even her Facebook friend", says the Mirror.

Schunck was discovered thanks to a series of clues left by the alleged kidnap gang, which is said to have included two known petty criminals. "Investigators found fingerprints of one of the suspected kidnappers, Davi Vicente Acevedo, in Ms Schunck's abandoned white Fiesta," The Sun says.

The suspects also reportedly appeared on traffic cameras while switching vehicles during the kidnap and allowed their phone and emails to be traced during negotiations with police.

They told police they had been promised £4,600 to snatch the 67-year-old, adds The Guardian, which says the £28m ransom demand was 6,000 times that amount.

The Daily Mail reports it has "exclusive access" to Schunck's kidnap prison. "Living off a meagre diet of bread, water, rice and beans, 67-year-old Aparecida Schunck endured nine days of torment in this squalid, makeshift jail," writes Nick Fagge.

The owners of the property told the paper they had no idea Schunck was there. "We did not realise what was going on until the day of the police raid," said Getulio Furtado.

Ecclestone is the UK's fourth richest person, with an estimated £3.2bn fortune. He married Fabiana Flosi, Schunck's daughter, in 2012.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's mother-in-law rescued

01 August

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's kidnapped mother-in-law has been rescued by Brazilian police.

Aparecida Schunck, the mother of Ecclestone's wife of four years, Fabiana Flosi, was snatched from her home in Sao Paulo on 22 July and a 120 million reais (£27.8m) ransom demanded. According to Brazilian media, the kidnappers demanded the payment be made in pounds, with the cash divided into four bags.

"She is in good health (and) two people have been arrested," the head of the Sao Paolo police said.

Police insist no money was paid and say an anti-kidnap squad rescued the 67-year-old from a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city after monitoring phone calls between kidnappers and her family.

The BBC says Ecclestone had wanted to travel to Brazil to help in the investigation and had offered the services of a private security company to deal with the kidnappers.

But Brazilian police advised him his presence in the country might be counterproductive and told him and his wife to remain in the UK.

Brazil has a history of kidnappings. Sky News says that as recently as a decade ago, several people would be seized each day, often for sums of just a few hundred dollars.

However, a clampdown by authorities, including the creation of the anti-kidnap division, has substantially reduced the number.

Vladimir Putin should be running Europe, says Bernie Ecclestone

19 April

Bernie Ecclestone waded into the EU debate today, saying that Russian president Vladimir Putin should be running Europe and that Britain should "get the hell out" of the bloc.

In a candid interview with WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell at an advertising conference in London, the Formula One boss said he believed immigrants have never offered anything to the UK and the country would be economically better off outside the European Union.

"I don't see any economic benefit [to the UK]," he said. "Europe has become less important, full stop."

In reply, Sorrell, whose own grandparents were immigrants to Britain in the 1930s, asked whether the business magnate thought he and his family had offered nothing to the UK – a question the 85-year-old billionaire refused to answer.

In the course of the hour-long session, Ecclestone also expressed his admiration for Putin, who he believes "should be running Europe".

Asked to clarify whether he meant the Russian leader should be in charge of Brussels and not Westminster, he replied: "No, here, too."

Delving further into his views, Sorrell invited Ecclestone to step away from his controversial support for Adolf Hitler, after refusing to condemn him in an interview in 2009.

The businessman replied that his comments had been taken out of context - but reiterated his previous statement that Hitler was a man who "got the job done".

Sorrell, who sits on the F1 board, said he is in favour of Britain remaining in the EU and "violently" disagreed with many of Ecclestone's positions, including his comments about Hitler.

He also opposed the idea that Britain would be better economically outside of Europe and said his firm "would lose influence in four of our top ten markets" in the event of a vote to leave.

"I know clients will close plants, jobs will go. The question is how long that will go on for," he said.

Sorrell has previously described the looming referendum as "uncertainty-stimulating".