Boris Becker jailed for two-and-a-half years for flouting terms of his bankruptcy

Apr 29, 2022

Tennis star Boris Becker has been jailed for two years and six months for flouting the terms of his 2017 bankruptcy.

The 54-year-old was earlier this month found guilty of transferring hundreds of thousands of pounds from his business account and failing to declare a property in his home town of Leimen in Germany.

The former men’s world number one and three-time Wimbledon champion was also convicted of hiding an €825,000 (almost £700,000) bank loan and 75,000 shares in a tech firm.

It followed a trial at Southwark Crown Court in central London on charges under the Insolvency Act.

He was accused of hiding millions of pounds worth of assets, including two Wimbledon trophies, to avoid paying his debts.

The six-time Grand Slam champion told jurors his $50m (about £38m) career earnings were swallowed up by an expensive divorce to his first wife Barbara Becker, child maintenance payments and “expensive lifestyle commitments”.

Becker said he was “shocked” and “embarrassed” after he was declared bankrupt on 21 June, 2017, over an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.

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The German national, who has lived in the UK since 2012, insisted he had co-operated with trustees tasked with securing his assets, even offering up his wedding ring, and had acted on expert advice from advisers who managed his life.

However, Becker, who was supported in court by his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro and eldest son Noah, was found guilty of four charges.

The court heard Becker received €1.13m (about £950,000) from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership he owned in Germany, which was paid into a business account used as a “piggy bank” for his personal expenses.

Becker was found guilty of transferring €427,00 (£356,000) to nine recipients, including the accounts of his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker, the mother of his fourth child.

He was further convicted of failing to declare a property in his home town of Leimen, hiding an €825,000 (almost £700,000) bank loan on the house as well as 75,000 shares in tech firm Breaking Data Corp.

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