Boris Becker has come out in the open and has spoken about his experience in prison in the UK. Terming it “brutal”, he added that during the time of incarceration, he had to get himself surrounded by “tough boys” so as to protect himself. Becker was served with a two-and-a-half-year sentence for hiding $2.65 million of assets and loans, eight months of which were spent by him in prison.
Facts about tax fraud case that led to Boris Becker’s conviction
The tennis great was prosecuted under the Insolvency Act, due to non-acceptance of his guilt and distancing himself from his offence pertaining to bankruptcy. Having been held guilty of four charges at Southwark Crown Court, he was acquitted on a further 20 counts in connection with his 2017 bankruptcy. He had faced a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
Becker, the youngest Wimbledon men’s singles champion to date, was earlier given a two-year suspended sentence on the grounds of tax evasion worth $1.8m(about $1.48m) in 2002. The judge citing that conviction said, “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.”
The German, a six-time Grand Slam champion, said that his career earnings were spent on an “expensive divorce” and other debts after he retired. But the lengths to which Becker avoided paying his debts and concealing his shares and properties, were considered by the judge. The verdict was primarily meant to reaffirm the seriousness of the consequences of failing to comply with legal obligations.
Though, a sporting legend in his own right, Becker will now be remembered for financial misdealings and deceit as much as he will be remembered for his dive volleys. The German, who was a former coach of Novak Djokovic under whom the Serb went on to win six Grand Slams, is now in talks with Dane, Holger Rune, for a potential coaching role in what would be his life’s “third chapter”.