Tennis great Boris Becker jailed in Britain over $1.3m fraud

Boris Becker, the three-time Wimbledon champion, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years over bankruptcy offences as a judge told him he had been humiliated, but shown no humility.

The 54-year-old hid assets and loans amounting to £2.5 million (NZ$4.9m) - including a luxury villa in Germany - from his creditors after he was declared bankrupt in 2017 for an unpaid £3 million loan.

He was found guilty of four offences under the Insolvency Act following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, a verdict that has left the tennis star humiliated, broke and with little prospect of future work, according to his lawyer.

Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced the six-time Grand Slam champion to two-and-a-half years imprisonment, of which he will serve half, saying he had failed to "heed the warning" of a 2002 suspended sentence in Germany for tax evasion.

She told Becker: "You have lost your career, reputation and all your property as a result of your bankruptcy.

"However, it is notable you have not shown remorse or acceptance of your guilt and have sought to distance yourself from the offending in your bankruptcy.

"While I accept the humiliation you have felt as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility."

Becker, who attended court in a striped tie bearing the traditional green and purple colours of the All England Club, appeared red faced as he was led down from the dock, but otherwise did not betray any emotion.

He holds honorary membership of the club after becoming the youngest man to win Wimbledon when he scored his first grand-slam title there in 1985, but club sources on Friday suggested his membership would now be under review.

The BBC, for which Becker has long been one of its star Wimbledon pundits, declined to comment on his future involvement in the tournament's coverage.

The father of four first found himself embroiled in bankruptcy trouble in 2016 after borrowing - and failing to repay - around £3.5 million from a private bank called Arbuthnot Latham for a complex in Mallorca, Spain, known as La Finca.

The money, he claimed, was to fund renovation and repair work on the estate, but his ability to repay it had been hampered by other financial obligations, such as a divorce and child maintenance payments.

The bank issued a statutory demand in 2016 and Becker's attempts to challenge it were dismissed, eventually leading to a bankruptcy petition being presented to the High Court in 2017.

By his own account, Becker was "completely shocked" when the court made him bankrupt on June 21 2017.

He told jurors he had expected a "white knight" to ride to his assistance and help him settle his debts.

But the prosecution accused the tennis star of lying about his surprise at this turn of events, saying he had been well aware for several years that it could be a possibility.

It was in the days that followed the bankruptcy order that Becker set in motion a series of events that would ultimately see him deprived of his liberty by a crown court judge.

First, he dismissed the lawyers who had been acting for him and assembled a new insolvency team, during which time he claimed that he failed to read documents served on him explaining his obligations.

Between June 23 and September 28, Becker then moved around £390,000 from a company account he used for business and personal purposes.

The business account was treated by Becker as a "piggy bank" for his personal expenses, the trial heard, and had received into it around £950,000 from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership he owned in Germany.

The expenses included £7,600 on children's school fees, almost £1,000 at Harrods and payments made to Ralph Lauren, Porsche, Ocado and a Chelsea children's club.

Despite his purported financial woes, jurors were also told that Becker spent around £40,000 on an ankle operation at a private clinic, paid more than £10,000 to a private jet company and splashed out £5,000 at a luxury golf resort in China.

Among the accounts he transferred the money to in the wake of his bankruptcy were those of his ex-wife Barbara Becker and estranged wife Sharlely "Lilly" Becker.

On Friday, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, defending, said Becker had not spent money on a "lavish lifestyle" but used funds to pay child maintenance, lawyers, business expenses and rent.

He added: "He was in desperate financial straits and what in essence he has done is exercised his own choice as to which creditors to pay, choosing or preferring to pay monies to dependents rather than allowing the joint trustees to determine how those monies should be applied."

None of the money has been recovered, the court heard, and it was this charge that the judge considered to be the most serious - and for which she imposed a two-and-a-half year sentence.

Becker also failed to declare his share in a £1 million property in his home town of Leimen, Germany, hid a loan worth around £700,000 – rising to £1.1 million with interest – and concealed 75,000 shares in a tech firm valued at £66,000.

For each of the three offences, Becker was handed an 18-month sentence to be served concurrently with the two-and-a-half year sentence.

During evidence, Becker, who won 49 singles titles out of 77 finals during his 16 years as a professional tennis player, said he was "shocked" and "embarrassed" when he had to declare bankruptcy.

Becker said he had earned a "vast amount" during his career, paying cash for a family home in Munich, a property in Miami, Florida, and the estate in Mallorca.

He told the jury his £38 million career earnings were swallowed up by a divorce from his first wife, child maintenance payments and "expensive lifestyle commitments" including a £22,000-a-month rented house in Wimbledon, south-west London.

But Becker, who went on to coach current world number one Novak Djokovic, work as a commentator and act as a brand ambassador for firms including Puma, said his income "reduced dramatically" following his retirement in 1999.

He had previously been handed a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion worth around £1.4 million in Germany in 2002.

As well as the £3 million loan, Becker also owed Swiss authorities £4 million and separately more than £800,000 in liabilities over a conviction for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002.

Becker was, however, acquitted of a further 20 charges earlier this month, including nine counts of failing to hand over trophies and medals from his tennis career.

He told jurors he did not know the whereabouts of the memorabilia, including the 1985 Wimbledon trophy he lifted at the age of 17, catapulting him to stardom.

The other prizes were his 1992 Olympic gold medal, Australian Open trophies from 1991 and 1996, the President's Cup from 1985 and 1989, his 1989 Davis Cup trophy and a Davis Cup gold coin that he won in 1988.

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

But Rebecca Chalkley, prosecuting, told the court on Friday that the jury had found Becker acted "deliberately and dishonestly", adding: "Even now, Mr Becker is still seeking to blame others when it was obviously his duty."

Becker's counsel sought to persuade the judge not to send his client to prison by setting out in stark detail the personal toll of the conviction.

Mr Laidlaw said: "Boris Becker has literally nothing and there is nothing to show for what was the most glittering of sporting careers. That is nothing short of tragedy.

"His fall is not simply a fall from grace, it amounts to the most public of humiliations to this man. His degree of suffering - and it will continue - is punishment no other bankrupt in this country is ever likely to experience.

"He does not have a future. These proceedings have destroyed his career, they have destroyed any future prospect of him earning an income. He will not be able to find work and he will have to rely on the charity of others if he is to survive."

Although impassioned, it proved ineffective and Becker was on Friday night beginning his custodial sentence.

He was supported throughout the trial by his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro and eldest son Noah, who handed him a bag of his belongings in the dock as he prepared to hear his sentence.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission