Author of the article: National Post Wire Services Bang Showbiz Date of publication: 29 Apr 2022 • 15 hours ago • 1 minute reading • 10 comments Boris Becker appeared in a 2016 archive photo at Wimbledon Central Stadium when he was coach of Novak Djokovic of Serbia Photo by REUTERS / Paul Child
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Boris Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for concealing assets after his bankruptcy.
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The 54-year-old tennis legend was found guilty of four counts of insolvency law by a court in Southwark Crown Court earlier this month and sentenced to two years and six months in prison in the same court on Friday. Becker’s lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw, had argued that the six-time Grand Slam champion had already “literally lost everything” in an appeal for a suspended sentence. However, Judge Deborah Taylor said Becker “did not show humility” during the trial despite the humiliation he may have felt. The German sports star will serve half of his sentence before his release is considered, Judge Taylor said. Becker had been accused of embezzling millions of pounds in assets, including two of the Wimbledon trophies, to avoid paying off his debts.
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The star, who has lived in Britain for the past decade, described how he was “shocked” and “ashamed” after declaring bankruptcy in 2017 for an unpaid loan of more than 3 3 million – $ 4.8 million – in his fortune in Spanish island of Mallorca. Becker claimed that he was left in financial difficulties after a costly divorce from his first wife Barbara Becker, which cost him about 38 million pounds from the profits of his career. But the court heard that it received about 1.13 million euros (50 950,000) from the sale of a Mercedes dealership owned by Germany, which was paid into a professional account described as a “piggy bank” used for personal expenses. The BBC tennis expert also transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds to other accounts, including Barbara’s ex-wife and Sharlely’s estranged wife ‘Lily’ Becker, and prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley told jurors Becker had given her the overthrow “.
