Tennis veteran and three-time Wimbledon Champion Boris Becker is on the verge of heading to jail after he was accused of concealing wealth after he has been declared bankrupt.
The German star-turned-commentator was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act in a trial this month.
A London court heard he transferred £350,000 to other accounts, hid a property in Germany and failed to declare 75,000 shares in an IT firm and a £700,000 loan.
The father-of-four was legally obliged to disclose all his assets after being declared bankrupt in 2017.
The London-based former world number one now faces losing lucrative contracts with TV networks around the world, including his job as a BBC pundit at Wimbledon.
Becker’s mother Elvira Becker, 86, has begged a judge not to send her son to jail, saying earlier this month that he is ‘a decent boy overall’, adding: ‘I hope my son doesn’t have to go to prison.’
During his trial, Becker told a jury how his £38 million career earnings were swallowed up by an expensive divorce to his first wife Barbara Becker, child maintenance payments and ‘expensive lifestyle commitments’.
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The six-time Grand Slam champion said he was ‘shocked’ and ’embarrassed’ when he was declared bankrupt on June 21 2017 over an unpaid loan of more than £3million on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.
The German national, who has lived in the UK since 2012, claimed he had co-operated with trustees tasked with securing his assets, even offering up his wedding ring, and relied on the advisers who managed his life.
However, Becker, who was supported in court by his partner Ms de Carvalho Monteiro and eldest son, was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on April 8.
They include removal of property, two counts of failing to disclose estate and concealing debt.
Judge Deborah Taylor released Becker on conditional bail ahead of sentencing when he could face a jail sentence carrying a maximum term of seven years on each count.