‘Humiliated’ Becker has shown no humility, judge says as star is jailed
Tennis champion does not have a future, court told, as he is handed 30 months for bankruptcy offences
BORIS BECKER, the three-time Wimbledon champion, was yesterday 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 £2.5million – including a luxury villa in Germany – from his creditors after he was declared bankrupt in 2017 for an unpaid £3million 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 30 months’ imprisonment, of which he will serve half, saying he had failed to “heed the warning” of a 2002 suspended sentence 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 show any emotion.
He holds honorary membership of the club, but sources yesterday 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.
The father-of-four first found himself embroiled in bankruptcy trouble in 2016, after borrowing – and failing to repay – around £3.5million 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. He told jurors he had expected a “white knight” to ride to his assistance and help him settle debts.
But the prosecution accused him 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 jailed.
First, he dismissed his lawyers and assembled a new insolvency team, during which time he claimed that he failed to read documents served on him explaining his obligations. Becker then moved about £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
‘He acted deliberately and dishonestly. Even now, Becker is still seeking to blame others’
‘There is nothing to show for what was the most glittering of sporting careers. That is nothing short of tragedy’
school fees, almost £1,000 at Harrods and payments made to Ralph Lauren, Porsche, Ocado and a Chelsea children’s club.
Jurors were also told that Becker spent about £40,000 on an ankle operation at a private clinic, gave more than £10,000 to a private jet company and paid £5,000 at a golf resort in China.
Among the accounts he transferred the money to in the wake of his bankruptcy were those of his former wife Barbara Becker and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.
Yesterday, 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.
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 jail sentence.
The father-of-four also failed to declare his share in a £1million property in his home town of Leimen, hid a loan worth around £700,000 – rising to £1.1million 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 twoand-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. He told the jury his £38million 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.
His income, he claimed, had “reduced dramatically” following his retirement in 1999 and he struggled to make enough money to pay off his debts because of the damage inflicted on “brand Becker” by bad publicity.
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 owed the Swiss authorities £4million and, separately, more than £800,000 in liabilities over the 2002 conviction in Germany.
Becker was, however, acquitted of a further 20 charges earlier this month, including nine counts of failing to hand over trophies and medals.
He told jurors he did not know the whereabouts of the memorabilia, including the 1985 Wimbledon trophy he lifted as a teenager. The German national, who has lived in the UK since 2012, said he had co-operated with trustees who were securing his assets, and relied on his advisers.
But Rebecca Chalkley, prosecuting, told the court yesterday 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 a tragedy. His fall is not simply a fall from grace, it amounts to the most public of humiliations to this man.
“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.