According to an intelligence consultant, FIA president Max Mosley was warned by Bernie Ecclestone two months before the News of the World revelations over this private life that people had been hired to discredit him and they had unlimited funds to help them achieve their aim.
A report in British newspaper The Times has revealed that Bernie Ecclestone warned Mosley that there were people plotting against him, and Ecclestone was upset and angry when he found Mosley had ignored the advice his was given.
Dean Attew, an intelligence consultant who once worked for the Formula One rights-holder, claims that he was contacted mid-January by someone who wanted Mosley out of office, some two months before the first revelations about Mosley s private life were published in the News of the World.
In an interview with The Times, Attew claims, “In January this year I received a call from a friend. We had a meeting and I was approached and told there was an open budget to effectively go out and source material that would bring Max to his knees and, more importantly, remove him from office and discredit him publicly.
“During the conversation I said to the guy, ‘What’s your budget?’ and he said, ‘It’s an open budget,’ and I said, ‘OK, be specific here, are you after Max, are you after the FIA or are you after Bernie?’ They then went back and they came back a little while later and said, ‘We are not going to pursue it for the time being.’ The person contacted me because they knew of my relationship with Bernie but did not know of my relationship with Max. The reason they contacted me was to find out whether I had any loyalty to Max and whether I knew anything of value.â€
Attew says that he took the conversation seriously as he felt his contact was credible and so he contacted Ecclestone over the meeting. At that stage, it is believed that Ecclestone knew nothing of Mosley s tendencies and was not overly worried about the conversation as he felt there was no dirt to find on Mosley.
However after the story broke, Attew contacted Mosley to see if there was any way that he could help. Attew says that Mosley admitted to him that Ecclestone had warned him that there were possibly people out to discredit him, and that someone else had also given him a warning. However it appeared that Mosley did not heed either warning.
Attew has said that he is speaking out about the incident now because he feels it is wrong that there is speculation that Ecclestone was involved in the plot when, in fact, it was the complete opposite.
“I hear things about people suggesting Bernie was behind this, but that is ridiculous,†Attew said. “From the very first indication Bernie and I, with Max’s knowledge, have tried to find out who was the source.â€
Attew is also angry that Mosley disregarded the advice he was given. Attew contineud, “It was very clear that Max had disregarded both the advice he had been given and had failed to realise his vulnerability at that stage. The issue for me was his total disregard for genuine advice from individuals that he knew had his best interests at heart. When we saw what was in the News of the World, Bernie was as flabbergasted as I was.â€
