Boris Becker has been jailed for two and half years for hiding assets following his bankruptcy.
Boris Becker has been jailed for two and half years
The 54-year-old tennis legend was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act by a jury at Southwark Crown Court earlier this month and was sentenced to two years and six months in prison at the same court on Friday (29.04.22).
Becker's lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw had argued that the six-time Grand Slam champion had already "lost literally everything" in a plea for a suspended sentence.
However, Judge Deborah Taylor said that Becker had "shown no humility" during the proceedings despite the humiliation he may have felt.
The German sports star will serve half of his sentence before being considered for release, Judge Taylor said.
Becker had been accused of hiding millions of pounds worth of assets, including two of his Wimbledon trophies, to avoid paying off his debts.
The star, who has lived in Britain for the past decade, had described how he was "shocked" and "embarrassed" after being declared bankrupt in 2017 over an unpaid loan of over £3 million on his estate on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
Becker claimed that he was left in financial difficulty after a costly divorce from his first wife Barbara Becker, which he says cost him around £38 million of his career earnings.
But the court heard how he received around 1.13 million euros (£950,000) from the sale of a Mercedes dealership he owned in Germany – which was paid into a business account described as a "piggy bank" used for personal expenses.
The BBC tennis pundit also transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds to other accounts including his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Sharlely 'Lily' Becker and prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley told jurors that Becker had given bankruptcy officials "the runaround".
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