Boris Becker sentence: Former Wimbledon champion starts two-year jail term for hiding assets after bankruptcy
Boris Becker, the six-time Grand Slam champion who earned £35m in prizes and endorsements during an illustrious career, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after hiding millions of pounds worth of assets to avoid paying his debts.
The former world number one player was declared bankrupt in June 2017 over an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.
Becker, 54, was convicted of four charges under the Insolvency Act following a jury trial earlier this month.
German-born Becker, who has lived in the UK since 2012, was convicted of failing to declare a £1.3m property in his hometown of Leimen, hiding an €825,000 (£693,000) bank loan and 75,000 shares in a tech firm.
But he was cleared of 20 further charges including nine counts of hiding trophies and medals — including the Wimbledon cup he won aged 17 in 1985.
Becker’s partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro and his eldest son Noah attended the sentencing hearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court.
The former tennis player and BBC commentator appeared in the dock wearing a grey suit and a striped tie in the Wimbledon colours of purple and green.
In mitigation, Becker’s lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw QC asked the judge to consider passing a suspended sentence because the trial had “destroyed his career entirely”.
Mr Laidlaw said: “His reputation, an essential part of the brand which gives him work, is in tatters.
“He won’t be able to find work and will have to rely on the charity of others if he is to survive. I ask you please to suspend the sentence of imprisonment you must inevitably impose for these offences.”
During his trial, the court heard how Becker’s financial woes resulted from a €4.6m (£3.85m) loan from private bank Arbuthnot Latham in 2013. He also borrowed £1.2m with a 25 per cent interest rate from John Caudwell, the billionaire businessman who founded Phones 4u.
Jurors were told that Becker received €1.13m (£948,000) from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership he owned in Germany, which was paid into a business account.
The day after his bankruptcy, Becker was said to have transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds and made nine secret payments totalling £350,000, which included more than £111,000 to two of his former partners.
He also spent £40,000 on private ankle surgery and an estimated £5,000 at a luxury golf resort in China, the court heard.
Prosecutors said Becker used the account as a “piggy bank” for personal expenses; he spent £7,600 on children’s school fees, nearly £1,000 at Harrods, and made payments to Ralph Lauren, Porsche, Ocado and a Chelsea children’s club.
Becker told the court that his £35m career earnings had been wiped out by an expensive divorce from his first wife, Barbara, and “expensive lifestyle commitments”.