Boris Becker Sentenced to 2.5-Year Prison Sentence in Bankruptcy Fraud Case

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Former tennis star Boris Becker was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for hiding over $3 million in assets and loans when declaring bankruptcy.

The 54-year-old was convicted on four counts of violating the Insolvency Act and faced a maximum of seven years in prison.

According to Natalie Pirks of BBC Sports, he is expected to serve half of his sentence in prison.

Becker won six Grand Slam tournaments as a player, including three Wimbledon titles. He became the youngest male majors singles champion in 1985 when he won Wimbledon at 17 years old.

After his playing career, he spent time coaching Novak Djokovic as well as working as a commentator on the BBC.

In 2017, Becker was declared bankrupt over an unpaid loan of about 4.6 million euros ($5 million) from a private bank.

He was later found to have secretly transferred significant amounts of money from his business accounts to other private accounts, including to his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Sharlely. He also failed to disclose an 825,000 euro loan, his shares in a tech firm and a share in a property in Germany.

Becker was previously convicted of tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002, but his two-year sentence was suspended.