Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has been jailed for two and a half years for hiding \u00a32.5m worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.<\/p>\n
The 54-year-old six-time Grand Slam champion was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.<\/p>\n
The case centred on Becker’s bankruptcy in June 2017 resulting from an unpaid loan of more than \u00a33m on his luxury estate in Mallorca, Spain.<\/p>\n
Judge Deborah Taylor said he had shown no remorse or acceptance of guilt.<\/p>\n
Referring to Becker’s previous conviction for tax evasion in Germany in 2002, she told Becker: “You did not heed the warning you were given and the chance you were given by the suspended sentence and that is a significant aggravating factor…<\/p>\n
“You have… sought to distance yourself from your offending and your bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
“While I accept your humiliation as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility.”<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, after about two weeks hearing evidence, jurors found Becker guilty of removal of property, two counts of failing to disclose estate and concealing debt.<\/p>\n
They acquitted him on a further 20 charges, including nine counts of failing to hand over his tennis trophies and medals, including two from Wimbledon.<\/p>\n
Becker’s barrister Jonathan Laidlaw QC told the court the tennis star’s “fall from grace” had left “his reputation in tatters”.<\/p>\n
He said: “Boris Becker has literally nothing and there is also nothing to show for what was the most glittering of sporting careers and that is correctly termed as nothing short of a tragedy.<\/p>\n
“These proceedings have destroyed his career entirely and ruined any further prospect of earning an income.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has been jailed for two and a half years for hiding \u00a32.5m worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts. The 54-year-old six-time Grand Slam champion was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act. The case centred on Becker’s bankruptcy in June 2017 resulting from an unpaid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":28375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-regional-and-international-news","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n