Ex-Deutsche banker jailed for killing security guard in Ferrari crash

By Venus Wu

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A former senior banker who drove his Ferrari into a security guard at high speed in a fatal accident last year has been jailed for 21 months for dangerous driving causing death, after his claims of mechanical failure were rejected.

The District Court also suspended the driving license of Robert Ebert, Deutsche Bank's former head of equities for Asia Pacific, for five years.

Ebert, who was born in London, had argued there was a "catastrophic failure of the brakes" when his black Ferrari 458 Spider hit Ku Lap-chi, 53, in June last year at the entrance to a car park.

Judge Amanda Woodcock said she had watched CCTV footage of the accident "numerous times" and heard evidence by mechanical experts and found no evidence of mechanical failure.

"Despite his clear record and unblemished traffic record, I am sure the defendant did drive dangerously that morning," Judge Woodcock said on Monday.

She added that Ebert had switched his car to race mode "to hear the magnification of the roar of the engine in a tunnel-like road."

Ebert was driving from his home in the luxury Peak district of Hong Kong to his office at the International Commerce Centre on the day of the accident, the court heard.

His Ferrari was traveling at a speed of around 90 km/h at one point in a 30 km/h zone, the court heard.

The sentence on Monday came as another former banker in the Asia financial center went on trial accused of murdering two Indonesian women.

Cambridge-educated Rurik Jutting, 31, pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of "diminished responsibility". His trial continues on Tuesday.

(Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Michael Perry)

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