Becker was sentenced on April 29
Former tennis star Boris Becker has received a two-and-a-half year prison sentence after being found guilty of hiding thousands of pounds worth of assets.
Becker was sentenced on Friday 29 April after he was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency act earlier this month, as per the Mirror.
The German, who has also previously coached the likes of Novak Djokovic, was convicted of hiding a number of assets. These include 75,000 shares in a tech firm, £700,000 and his two Wimbledon Grand Slam titles.
Becker was legally required to declare these assets after the former tennis champion filed for bankruptcy five years ago, despite handing over his wedding ring, his ownership of a native home in Germany valued at £1.3m as well as a loan received from a Liechtenstein bank and the shares in his artificial intelligence firm.
The German was spotted wearing his Wimbledon tie when appearing at Southwark Crown Court and was accompanied by his partner, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro.
Becker has also had previous history with tax evasion and had attempted it back in 2002, with judge Deborah Taylor being asked to take that into account when deciding on the length of sentence for the 54-year-old.
Rebecca Chalkley, prosecuting, told Southwark Crown Court, as per the Daily Mail: “Looking at the way the case was put and the route to verdict it is the prosecution submission that the jury rejected his case that he did not act dishonestly and must have found that he did.
“None of the money in count four, the money transferred to third parties, was in sterling £390,000. It is the prosecution case the full amount is recoverable or should be accounted for and not just the 50 per cent that Mr Laidlaw submits.
“It is correct the jury has found the defendant didn’t know about the prescribed period, or they did conclude that the transfer to the other Boris Becker accounts was not concealments but they did find him guilty on transfer to the third parties which are these payments.
“The transfer of all of the payments the jury must have concluded that it was deliberate and dishonest.
“Applying the way the case was put, there is a way to see the jury returned the verdicts they did looking at the difference between the prescribed period and the bankrupt period, the third parties and to the separate Boris Becker accounts.”
The three-time Wimbledon champion is now likely to lose a host of lucrative contracts which include working as a pundit on the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon.
