Ex-Banker Convicted in Deadly Car Crash Seeks Ferrari Records

An ex-Deutsche Bank AG banker imprisoned over a fatal car crash in Hong Kong is seeking to clear his name in a UK court by forcing Ferrari to hand over internal documents he claims could prove the vehicle was unsafe.

Robert Ebert, Deutsche Bank’s former head of Asia-Pacific equities in Hong Kong, was driving a Ferrari 458 Spider in 2015 when he lost control of the car and hit a security guard, who later died. Ebert was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and imprisoned for 14 months, according to court documents filed for a London hearing on Tuesday.

Ferrari is challenging Ebert’s attempt to secure documents before he can launch a possible claim against the Italian firm. If Ebert is successful the disclosures could lead to him filing a full lawsuit against Ferrari.

Ebert said during the 2016 criminal trial in Hong Kong that the accident was caused by brake failure. A Ferrari employee who gave evidence at the time said that the problem described by Ebert was not scientifically possible, according to his lawyers.

In 2021, Ferrari issued a recall for certain cars, including the make of car Ebert was driving, for brake-related defects. Ebert alleged that the same defects caused the accident, the automaker either knew or should have known about the defects and a Ferrari employee gave misleading or negligent evidence during the trial.

“Ferrari denies that the recall had any relevance to the accident or Mr. Ebert’s conviction,” the carmaker’s lawyers said in court filings. The request for evidence from Ferrari’s employee originated from Hong Kong police and was not proposed by the company.

Lawyers for Ferrari said the documents were held at its Maranello headquarters or on servers in Italy and Amsterdam. English courts should not compel disclosure of overseas documents on Ebert’s application, which circumvented proper procedure, and England is not the appropriate forum for the dispute, they said.

Ebert, a British citizen, was 48-years-old at the time of the accident. He was earning between $2.5 million and $5 million a year and was progressing into a role that would have more than doubled his earnings.

“As a result of the conviction, he lost that position, and indeed his employment as a whole,” Ebert’s lawyers said in court documents. Ebert was deported from Hong Kong and isn’t allowed to seek jobs with investment banks. He is currently trying to build his own financial services business in the U.K.

A spokesperson for Ferrari declined to comment further.

Top photo: A Ferrari 458 Spider. Photographer: Gabriela Maj/Bloomberg.