Brawn & Co. swindled in fake $130 million sponsorship deal

[ISLAMATRON]

I'm at work, therefore using as few brain cells as possible. That may be why I am totally confused by this:

With the help of a former Henkel employee and some fake letterhead, he signed up to sponsor the team for a 3-year deal worth over $130 million dollars. Apparently, he then used the contract as collateral to obtain some $65 million in loans, out of which, $16 million is still missing.

The contract bound the fraudster to paying Brawn $130 million+. How could he use money he owed as collateral to borrow more?

Is this not like going to a bank and saying, "I want to borrow $65 million."

"Collateral? Certainly. As collateral, I am obligated to pay another organization $130 million over the next three years. I will use that debt as collateral to go more deeply into debt."



Now, if he was selling space on the Brawn car, as Marlboro apparently does with Ferrari, that's different.

Welcome to Western society's system of buying and selling things that dont actually exist and then being surprised when the whole economy collapses.

[segedunum]

Nick Fry was adamant all season that he had arranged ample sponsorship for next year, but it turns out that one major sponsor (I'm guessing the title sponsor, judging from the size of the deal) was nothing but a sham.

Hmmmm. This was the team who when they were Honda had to frantically cover their car in a ridiculous looking map of the Earth (Earth Dreams or something...... ) because they had no sponsors, and didn't they have a rather spartan looking car last season even when they had established themselves a winners?

[GTO]

Perhaps if Shumi signs as a pay driver, they won't need a title sponsor.

[xpensive]

The more I think about this, the more mind-boggling it becomes, this was the best Nick Fry could do in terms of sponsorship during a season when they won both titles? A sham deal with a documented scoundrel and a fifth-level officer of a detergent and shampoo corporation, which at least I never heard of. I live in Europe btw.

Regarding using an IOU as collateral for another loan, when I lived in Pennsylvania, my bank did not trust me with a credit-card until I took out a loan, no matter how much cash I had in the same bank. They called it "credit xperience" I think.

[raceman]

Merc surely had eyed that sponsorship that Fry said he had secured for the next three years - and now it's bust!

what a shame for such a big company that didn't investigate properly before the buy-out

[Astro1]

If Michael is announced as a Mercedes GP driver for 2010, they will literally have to fend off against sponsorship deals that will come flying from all directions.

[WhiteBlue]

If Michael is announced as a Mercedes GP driver for 2010, they will literally have to fend off against sponsorship deals that will come flying from all directions.

+1 on that. Someone will make a fortune to replace all that red garb with silver. German companies will fall over their feet to grab a piece of the action. Only Shell will be royally pissed off because he was a very good brand ambassador for them and Merc will be on Mobil1.

[Astro1]

Only Shell will be royally pissed off because he was a very good brand ambassador for them and Merc will be on Mobil1.

Some marketing manager at Shell is probably pulling his or her hair out right about now

[xpensive]

If Michael is announced as a Mercedes GP driver for 2010, they will literally have to fend off against sponsorship deals that will come flying from all directions.

Not that Mercedes is going to see much of that money, not after Fat Norbert paid Schumacher's fat retainer anyway.

[Fil]

If Michael is announced as a Mercedes GP driver for 2010, they will literally have to fend off against sponsorship deals that will come flying from all directions.

Who will all be mishandled, and lost.. if Fry has anything to do with them..

[xpensive]

If Michael is announced as a Mercedes GP driver for 2010, they will literally have to fend off against sponsorship deals that will come flying from all directions.

Who will all be mishandled, and lost.. if Fry has anything to do with them../quote]

The interesting part is if small-Fry actually thought he had made a 90 MEUR deal without the signature of a Henkel top-dog?

[richard_leeds]

Mercedes chief executive Nick Fry drops the strongest hint yet that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will come out of retirement to race next year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 414026.stm

After the sponsorship flop one can't help but having a nagging concern about who he's talking to about Schumi ... another helpful hand from Willy Luchs ?? ... .....

[xpensive]

I can hear Norbert screaming, "No Nick, I wanted WILLI'S signature, not Willy's!"

[gibells]

I reckon Norbert would have lost his rag with Small Fry before the first weekend is out. He'll be saying 'come back Ron, all is forgiven.'

All this bundling has got to be bad-face for the Daimler Benz executives.

[segedunum]

The interesting part is if small-Fry actually thought he had made a 90 MEUR deal without the signature of a Henkel top-dog?

Why not? It worked for Eddie Jordan. Oh wait........