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Ecclestone had warned Mosley about plot

Max Mosley was warned by Bernie Ecclestone that people had been hired to discredit him two months before his private life was exposed, it was claimed today

A report in The Times newspaper dismisses recent suggestions that Ecclestone could have been part of a conspiracy to bring down the FIA president by suggesting he had warned Mosley that he was being targeted.

Dean Attew, an intelligence consultant who formerly worked for Ecclestone and also advised Mosley, revealed that he was contacted early this year by people who wanted Mosley removed from office.

"I received a call from a friend in January this year," Attew told The Times. "We had a meeting and I was told there was an open budget to effectively go out and source material that would bring Max to his knees, remove him from office, and discredit him publicly.

"The person contacted me because they knew of my relationship with Bernie, but they didn't 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.

"I asked 'are you after Max, the FIA, or Bernie?' They came back a little while later and said they weren't going to pursue it for the time being."

Attew informed Ecclestone of the conversation, who then warned Mosley of the plot.

"I sat down with Bernie and told him what I'd heard," said Attew. "Bernie then told Max, I know this because Max later confirmed it to me. I assumed the warning would be taken seriously.

"It was clear that Max disregarded the advice and failed to realise his vulnerability. The issue for me was his total disregard for genuine advice from individuals that he knew had his best interests at heart

"I asked Bernie if there was anything anyone was going to find out about Max and he said 'you're not going to find anything because there's nothing there, he's Mr Boring in that sense'. Mosley had kept this a good secret."

Attew believes Mosley should have revealed that Ecclestone tried to warn him to defuse speculation that he was linked to the expose.

"I hear people suggesting Bernie was behind this, but that's ridiculous," he added. "From the very first indication, Bernie and I, with Max's knowledge, have tried to find out who was the source. When we saw what was in the News of the World, Bernie was as flabbergasted as I was."

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