Boris Becker will have to “rely on the charity of others” after his release from a two-and-a-half-year sentence for evading assets and loans worth £ 2.5 million to avoid paying his debts, his lawyer said.
The 54-year-old tennis star was declared bankrupt in 2017, owing creditors almost £ 50 million for an unpaid loan of over £ 3 million for his mansion in Mallorca, Spain.
Earlier this month, he was found guilty of transferring hundreds of thousands of his business account to others and failing to declare property in his German hometown of Leimen.
The former world number one for men has also been convicted of evading a € 825,000 (almost £ 700,000) bank loan and 75,000 shares in a technology company.
This followed a trial at Southwark Crown Court in central London on insolvency charges.
He has been accused of embezzling millions of pounds, including two Wimbledon trophies, to avoid paying off his debts.
Sentenced Becker to two years and six months in prison, Judge Deborah Taylor said it was “remarkable that you did not show remorse or confession.”
She added: “Although I accept the humiliation you have experienced as a result of these procedures, you have not shown humility.”
There were no signs of emotion in Becker’s sentencing.
Image: Becker pictured won Wimbledon in 1985 at the age of 17
His lawyer, Jonathan Leidlow, said the six-time Grand Slam champion “will not be able to find a job” and will now have to “rely on the charity of others if he wants to survive”.
“Becker’s falling away from grace is ‘the most public humiliation,'” Mr Leidlow added.
“Boris Becker literally has nothing and also nothing to show for what was the most brilliant of his sports careers, and this is rightly called nothing but tragedy,” he continued.
“These procedures completely ruined his career and ruined any further prospects for earning income.
“His reputation is shattered.”
Image: Becker will have to “rely on the charity of others if he wants to survive”, says his lawyer
Becker, who has won the Wimbledon men’s singles three times, told jurors that his $ 50 million (about £ 38 million) career has been swallowed up by an expensive divorce from his first wife, Barbara Becker, on alimony payments. children and “expensive lifestyle commitments”.
He said he was “shocked” and “embarrassed” after being declared bankrupt on June 21, 2017.
The German national, who has lived in the UK since 2012, has insisted on cooperating with trustees in charge of protecting his assets, even offering his wedding ring and acting on expert advice from advisers who have run his life.
However, Becker, who was backed in court by his partner Lillian de Carvalho Monteiro and eldest son Noah, was found guilty of four counts.
The court heard that Becker received 1.13 million euros (about 950,000 British pounds) from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership in Germany, which was paid into a business account used as a “piggy bank” for his personal expenses.
Becker was found guilty of transferring € 427.00 (£ 356,000) to nine recipients, including the accounts of his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Charlie “Lily” Becker, the mother of his fourth child.
He was also convicted of failing to declare a property in his hometown of Lyman, hiding a bank loan of € 825,000 (almost £ 700,000) for the house, as well as 75,000 shares in the technology company Breaking Data Corp.
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