The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Leniency plea by daughter of Boris Becker
Boris Becker’s daughter has said she is in “shock” about her father’s prison sentence and fears it will be hard on his young son.
Anna Ermakova said she had written to the judge who jailed her tennis champion father for twoand-a-half years for bankruptcy fraud, asking for leniency for the sake of his 12-year-old son, Amadeus.
Ms Ermakova, who was conceived during Becker’s infamous sexual encounter with waitress Angela Ermakova at London restaurant Nobu in 1999, told German newspaper Bild: “I wrote a letter to the court to express my concern for my little half-brother, Amadeus.
“After all, he is only 12 and will now have to do without a father figure, whom he will lack during a difficult phase of his development. It’s not fair to him. It’s going to be tough for Amadeus.”
Judge Deborah Taylor, sitting at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, gave the six-time Grand Slam champion a 30-month sentence, of which he will serve half, for hiding £2.5 million of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.
The 54-year-old threetime Wimbledon champion and former world number one was declared bankrupt on June 21 2017, owing creditors almost £50m, over an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his estate in Majorca, Spain.
BBC commentator Becker transferred almost 427,000 euros (around £390,000) from his business account to others, including those of his exwife Barbara Feltus and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.
The father-of-four also failed to declare his share in a £1m property in his home town of Leimen, Germany, hid an 825,000 euro (almost £700,000) bank loan – worth £1.1m with interest – and concealed 75,000 shares in a tech firm, valued at £66,000.
Ms Ermakova also told Bild: “I will support him and I will visit him whenever I can.
“I hope that will help him a little to get through the time.”