- wording
- BBC News World
1 hour
image source, PA Media
Boris Becker arrived at court with his partner, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro.
Tennis player Boris Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, was sentenced to two and a half years in jail on Friday by a British court for hiding assets and loans worth more than $3 million to avoid paying his debts.
Becker, 54, was found guilty on four counts under the British Insolvency Act.
The case centered on Becker’s bankruptcy filing in June 2017 as a result of a failed loan of more than $3.7 million for his luxury residence on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
Judge Deborah Taylor said the former German tennis player and former world number one had shown no remorse or acceptance of blame.
Referring to the two-year suspended prison sentence that Becker received in Germany in 2002 for tax evasion, the judge said: “He did not pay attention to the warning that he was given and the opportunity that the suspension of the sentence gave him and that is a major aggravating factor…
“You have sought to distance yourself from his offense and his bankruptcy. Although I accept his humiliation as part of the process, there has been no humility.”
image source, PA Media
Boris Becker will have to spend half of his sentence in prison.
Guilty on four counts
Earlier this month, a jury found Becker guilty of theft of property, two counts of non-disclosure of his assets and concealment of debt.
He was acquitted of 20 other charges, including nine for failing to hand over his tennis trophies and medals.
Becker – winner of six Grand Slam tournaments – will have to spend half of his 30-month sentence in prison, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.
His lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw, told the court that the tennis star’s “fall from grace” had left “his reputation in tatters”.
“Boris Becker has literally nothing and nothing to show for what was a brilliant sports career and that is a tragedy.”
“This process has completely destroyed his career and ruined any future prospects of earning an income.”
Now you can receive notifications from BBC World. Download the new version of our app and activate it so you don’t miss out on our best content.