Former world tennis number 1 Boris Becker was sentenced on Friday by British courts to two and a half years in prison for financial crimes related to his personal bankruptcy.

At the age of 54, Boris Becker was found guilty at the beginning of the month of concealing 2.5 million pounds sterling (3 million euros at the current rate) in assets and debts to avoid paying off his debts.

Declared in personal bankruptcy in 2017, Boris Becker has been sentenced on four counts: one count of return of assets, two counts of nondisclosure of assets and one count of concealment of debt.

The six-time Grand Slam winner, who has lived in the UK since 2012, was on April 8 declared bankrupt by London’s Southwark Crown Court for not settling his debts with hundreds of thousands of euros and pounds of sterling hidden or illegally stolen. was found guilty of transfer. ,

He has been specifically accused of transferring hundreds of thousands of pounds of sterling from a professional account to other accounts, in particular of his ex-wives, not having declared assets in Germany and concealing debts of 825,000 euros and shares. . a company.

Boris Becker arrived at court in a London taxi on Friday morning, walking hand-in-hand with his partner Lillian de Carvalho Monteiro, before returning to the building. Serious-faced, he wore a purple and green tie the colors of Wimbledon, while his eldest son, Noah, 28, entered with a sports bag.

Impatient at the announcement of his sentence, he picked up his bag before taking it to the cell. No information about potential calls is immediately filtered.

Judge Deborah Taylor announced her sentence, telling her: “You showed no remorse or acknowledgment of guilt and tried to distance yourself from your wrongdoings and your bankruptcy.” “While I agree there was humiliation in the process, there was no humility,” she said.

In terms of reactions, women’s tennis legend Chris Evert took to Twitter to react to the imprisonment of the former world number one player. He wrote, “Sorry to hear about Boris Becker. It was great working with him on Eurosport, always a gentleman.”

– Bankruptcy and embarrassment –

Twenty years ago, Becker was given a suspended prison sentence in Germany after a dispute with the tax authorities.

During the trial in London, prosecutor Rebecca Chackley accused him of using a professional account as a “piggy bank” to pay for daily expenses or school fees for his children.

Boris Becker, who disputes all charges, was acquitted of twenty other counts, including those related to the disappearance of his trophies.

He had assured a hearing that he did not know where they were.

Among the nine accolades creditors are his three Wimbledon Cup trophies, two Australian Open trophies and his doubles gold at the 1992 Olympics.

The former tennis star said during the trial that took place from March 21 to April 8 that he still has “many” of the awards and memories he has collected over the 15 years on the circuit, but some have disappeared.

He had already sold a portion of his prizes at auction for 700,000 pounds (840,000 euros) to pay off part of his debt.

At the time of his bankruptcy, his debt was estimated at 50 million pounds sterling (59 million euros).

– the tarnished “Baker Brand” –

His bankruptcy was announced a few days before the Wimbledon tournament at which the first German player to win a Grand Slam title was working for the BBC and Australian and Japanese television.

During the hearing, he had told that he was “shocked by the situation”. “It was full news, I walked through the gates of Wimbledon and everyone knew. I was embarrassed because I went bankrupt,” he said.

According to him, his bankruptcy and his treatment in the media caused so much damage to the “Baker Brand” that he had difficulty repaying his debts.

The case is not the first for restless player Boris Becker, who had lived in Monaco and Switzerland before settling in England.

She has already faced legal setbacks for unpaid debts with Spanish justice, in connection with work at her villa in Mallorca, and by Swiss justice, due to non-payment of the clergy who married her in 2009.

In 2002, German courts sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence of two years and a fine of 500,000 euros for tax arrears of about 1.7 million euros.

Sylvain PEUCHMAURD / LONDON (AFP) / © 2022 AFP . By