Former tennis champion Boris Becker has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for hiding £2.5 million assets and loans to avoid paying debts. The 54-year-old was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.
Becker, who used to coach tennis star Novak Djokovic, declared bankruptcy in 2017 resulting from an unpaid loan of more than £3 million on his luxury estate in Mallorca, Spain, the Mirror reports.
The six-time Grand Slam champion and was legally obliged to declare all his assets, but failed to do so. He hid £700,000 of worth of assets, 75,000 shares in a tech firm and some of his two Wimbledon trophies.
Following his bankruptcy, he handed his wedding ring over, but concealed ownership of a £1.3million property in his German hometown of Leimen, hid a bank loan of almost £700,000 as well as shares in an artificial intelligence firm valued at £66,000.
He also was found to have made £390,000 worth of payments from his business account to nine others, including those of his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Sharlely "Lilly" Becker.
Prosecuting, Rebecca Chalkley told jurors that Becker had given bankruptcy officials 'the runaround'. She added: "The obligations and duties were with him." Becker will spend at least 15 months behind bars.
Becker, who wore his Wimbledon tie as he was accompanied to Southwark Crown Court by his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, has a previous conviction for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002, and Judge Deborah Taylor was implored to take that into account when deciding on a sentence for the 54-year-old in this case.
Becker told the jury his career earnings of nearly £40 million were spent on an expensive divorce from his first wife in 2001, child maintenance payments and a lavish lifestyle - including his £22,000 a month rented house in Wimbledon, south-west London.
Boris Becker rose to stardom aged 17 when he became the youngest singles male player to win the Wimbledon Championships in 1985. He went on to win another two Wimbledon titles, at SW19 the following year, before winning the tournament for a third and final time in 1989.
Becker also won the Australian Open twice, in 1991 and 1996, as well as the 1989 US Open. Becker also won a gold medal in the men's doubles at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
He retired from tennis in 1999 and has since commentated at Wimbledon for the BBC. In 2013, the father-of-four turned to coaching, working with one of the world's greatest tennis players Novak Djokovic.
