Becker gets 21/2-year jail term over bankruptcy-related charges

LONDON • Former tennis star Boris Becker was yesterday sentenced to 21/2 years in prison for hiding assets to avoid paying debts, after he was found guilty by a British court of charges relating to his 2017 bankruptcy.

The six-time Grand Slam champion, 54, was convicted over his transfer of huge amounts of money from his business account, failing to declare a property in Germany and concealing €825,000 (S$1.2 million) of debt and shares in a tech firm.

"It is notable you have not shown remorse or acceptance of your guilt," judge Deborah Taylor told him as she sentenced him at London's Southwark Crown Court. "There has been no humility."

She said Becker would serve half his sentence behind bars and the remainder on licence.

Becker, whose partner Lillian de Carvalho Monteiro and son Noah were in court, looked straight ahead as the sentence was handed down.

Earlier this month, he was acquitted of a further 20 charges, including nine counts of failing to hand over trophies and medals he won during his glittering tennis career.

The former world No. 1 told jurors he did not know the whereabouts of the memorabilia, including two of his three Wimbledon men's singles trophies.

Judge Taylor had released the German - who won Wimbledon as an unseeded teenager - on conditional bail ahead of his sentencing.

Becker told the jury how his US$50 million (S$69 million) career earnings were swallowed up by an expensive divorce from his first wife Barbara Becker, child maintenance payments and "expensive lifestyle commitments".

He said he was "shocked" and "embarrassed" when he was declared bankrupt in June 2017 over an unpaid loan of more than £3 million (S$5.2 million) on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.

The German, who has lived in Britain since 2012, said he had cooperated with trustees trying to secure his assets, even offering his wedding ring, and relied on the advisers who managed his life away from tennis.

But the former player was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.

Giving evidence, Becker said he earned a "vast amount" of money during his career, paying cash for several properties.

But Becker, who went on to coach current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, work as a TV sports commentator and act as a brand ambassador for firms such as Puma, said his income "reduced dramatically" following his retirement in 1999.

Becker, who was resident in Monte Carlo and Switzerland before moving to Britain, said his financial commitments included his £22,000-a-month rented house in Wimbledon, south-west London.

He also owed the Swiss authorities five million francs (S$7.1 million) and separately just under €1 million in liabilities over a conviction for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002.

He said bad publicity had damaged "brand Becker", meaning he struggled to make enough money to pay off his debts.

His lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw said at the time of his bankruptcy that Becker was too "trusting and reliant" on his advisers.

Becker, with a shock of strawberry-blond hair, shook up the tennis world in 1985 when he became Wimbledon's youngest men's singles champion at 17 - repeating the feat the following year. Nicknamed "Boom Boom" Becker for his ferocious serve, he won Wimbledon for a third time in 1989.

He also won the Australian Open twice and the US Open during his glittering career, becoming the world's top-ranked player in 1991.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE