F1 tycoon tells German 'bribe' trial that he paid banker £27.5m to avoid revelations which could have left him with £2bn tax bill

Given that he has already breezily claimed this week that he paid a German banker £27.5m to keep his tax affairs private, it is clear that Bernie Ecclestone has a different concept of "value for money" to ordinary mortals.

But in a Munich court on Thursday the Formula 1 tycoon revealed that he is not always so blase about his fortune – it was "absurd", he said, that his youngest daughter's wedding this year cost "in excess of £12m".

The startling admission came during Ecclestone's second day of questioning as a witness in the biggest corruption trial in modern German history.

He was testifying against Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former executive at the state-owned BayernLB bank, who is accused of accepting Ecclestone's $44m (£27.5m) in return for smoothing over the 2005 sale of the bank's $839m stake in F1 to CVC, the private equity group.

Gribkowsky, a cigar and fast car-loving 53-year-old, insists the £27.5m was a perfectly legitimate consultancy fee for his role in the sale.

But in court on Thursday Ecclestone repeated his claim that he paid up only because he was "shaken down" by the German, who, feared Ecclestone, was going to give HM Revenue and Customs "false" information about his financial affairs which could leave him with a tax bill "in excess of £2bn".

The 81-year-old brought up his daughter Petra's opulent wedding in an attempt to illustrate his claim that he and his ex-wife, Croatian model Slavica, 53, never discussed business or financial affairs.

This is crucial to Ecclestone's insistence that Bambino, the multibillion-pound offshore trust set up in Slavica's name containing the bulk of his assets, is not in fact controlled by him.

Around half of the £27.5m which ended up in Gribkowsky's bank account came from Bambino's coffers.

Ecclestone said that Slavica and Bambino's trustees decided to contribute to the "shakedown" payment of their own accord, rather than because he ordered them to do so.

They were independently fearful of an investigation by British tax inspectors, he said. Not that they ever discussed it.

This matters because Ecclestone says he had been advised that the trust's balance would be subject to a 40% tax claim from Revenue and Customs if they believe he has anything to do with it: an allegation Ecclestone has said he thought Gribkowsky was going to make.

"I never took any business problems home to my wife," said Ecclestone. "Here's a little demonstration of what really happens.

"My youngest daughter got married and I thought as father of the bride that I should pay for the wedding. When it was suggested how much they were going to spend on drinks, I thought it was absurd and I managed to upset my daughter and my wife, and then she [Slavica] spent in excess of £12m on my daughter's wedding."

Until then, the wedding in the medieval town of Bracciano, near Rome, was thought to have cost "just" £5m – the bill allegedly included performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Andrea Bocelli and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as £800,000 for "vintage wines".

The judge, Peter Noll, pointed out that Petra's wedding only took place recently, six years after the £27.5m "bribe" was paid – and almost three years after Slavica divorced Ecclestone for what is widely believed to be an eye-watering sum.

Their relationship nowadays may be different from that six years ago, he said. Ecclestone said nothing.

During the two days in the witness box – actually a witness table in Germany – Ecclestone revealed other glimpses into his unusual life.

To support his claim that Slavica independently decided the trust should pay Gribkowsky, Ecclestone said the two got on well so could easily have discussed it.

"They were drinking partners," he said. He wasn't too happy about their friendship because he worried Slavica would ask the German if her then husband had "any girlfriends".

One of Gribkowsky's lawyers then asked for clarification, saying "you were worried she would find out about your girlfriends?" No, no, said Ecclestone. "Girlfriend. Singular.''

Just before Ecclestone rushed off to fly in his private jet to the F1 grand prix in Abu Dhabi, he was asked a final few questions by a man from the German tax authorities. The brief exchange gave an illuminating insight into what it's like to be one of the richest men in world sport.

If you believed you were being threatened by Gribkowsky, asked the taxman, why didn't you ask for the £27.5m back, or tell the police? Well, said Ecclestone, "It was one of those things in life you want to forget about."

The case continues.

• This article was amended on 11 November 2011. The original misspelled the name of Bernie Ecclestone's ex-wife as Slavika. This has been corrected.