Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has been jailed for two and a half years for hiding £2.5m worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.
The 54-year-old six-time Grand Slam champion was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.
The case centred on Becker’s bankruptcy in June 2017 resulting from an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his luxury estate in Mallorca, Spain.
Judge Deborah Taylor said he had shown no remorse or acceptance of guilt.
Referring to Becker’s previous conviction for tax evasion in Germany in 2002, she told the former world number one: “You did not heed the warning you were given and the chance you were given by the suspended sentence and that is a significant aggravating factor.
“You have… sought to distance yourself from your offending and your bankruptcy.
“While I accept your humiliation as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility.”
Becker was legally obliged to disclose all of his assets so that his trustee could distribute available funds to his creditors, to whom he owed nearly £50m when he was declared bankrupt.
But earlier this month, after about two weeks hearing evidence, Southwark Crown Court jurors found Becker guilty of removal of property, two counts of failing to disclose estate and concealing debt.
They acquitted him on a further 20 charges, including nine counts of failing to hand over his tennis trophies and medals, including two from Wimbledon. Prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley said the jury had found the Wimbledon commentator had acted “deliberately and dishonestly”.
She added: “Even now, Mr Becker is still seeking to blame others when it was obviously his duty.”
The jury found Becker had failed to declare his share in a sprawling £1m property in his German hometown of Leimen, and hid a bank loan of almost £700,000 on that house, as well as shares in a technology firm valued at £66,000. BBC
