Boris Becker, a six-time Grand Slam tennis champion, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in London. The 54-year-old German national was declared bankrupt in 2017 and convicted earlier this year of four crimes under the UK’s Insolvency Act, including concealing hundreds of millions of euros and assets from investigators. He has lived in the UK since 2012.
Becker has primarily worked as a commentator and pundit for the BBC in the United Kingdom since retiring from tennis in 1999, but his earnings from the sport, estimated at around €45.2 million ($47.7 million), were gobbled up by an ugly divorce, child maintenance payments, and lifestyle commitments. Becker was found guilty of being unable to reveal six-figure funds transferred to family members, a property in his hometown of Leimen, Baden-Württemberg, and 75,000 shares in a tech company when faced with requirements to hand over assets to resolve his dues under the terms of his bankruptcy.
Defending attorney Jonathan Laidlaw attempted to relieve Becker of responsibility, portraying his client as a “hopeless case” when it came to money management and blaming financial advisers who had handled Becker’s affairs in a disorderly manner. However, Becker had given bankruptcy officials the runaround, according to prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley. She added: “The obligations and duties were with him.”
Becker was sentenced to a suspended sentence by a Munich court in 2002 after being found guilty of tax evasion. While awaiting his sentencing on Friday, Becker received support from Dietloff von Arnim, the head of the German Tennis Federation (DTB), who stated Becker had given undeniably exceptional victories to German tennis, wishing him well and adding: “We stand faithfully by the side of our tennis icon.”
