Six times Grand Slam champion Boris Becker is facing a possible jail sentence after he was found guilty of four breaches of his 2017 bankruptcy proceedings.
The BBC pundit, 54, gave officials the “runaround” when he ran into financial difficulties and was ordered to declare his assets, Southwark crown court has heard.
He was accused of hiding millions of pounds in assets before and after being declared bankrupt in June 2017, but the tennis ace insisted he had done nothing wrong.
Jurors on Friday found Becker guilty of four charges that he faced, including failures to disclose properties and concealing debt.
He was found not guilty of 20 others charges.
Judge Deborah Taylor released the star on bail until sentencing on April 29.
Becker’s financial woes stemmed from disastrous loans he took on when repairs to his sprawling Mallorca holiday home needed paying for.
He was struggling to cope with the demands of an expensive £25 million divorce from his first wife, Barbara, as well as payments to support a love child and keeping up with his luxury lifestyle.
Becker told the court he thought he could stave off bankruptcy with the help of a private equity fund, but his hopes were dashed with a High Court order in June 2017.
He was then investigated and charged over allegations that he had hidden his precious tennis trophies, failed to declare a series of properties in the UK and Germany, and had been withdrawing and transferring funds under the nose of bankruptcy proceedings.
The court was told the BBC commentator received £950,000 (1.13 million euro) from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership he owned in Germany, which was paid into a business account used as his “piggy bank” for personal expenses.
He was found guilty of transferring hundreds of thousands of pounds to other accounts, including those of his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker, the mother of his fourth child.
Becker also spent around £40,00 on an ankle operation at a private clinic, paid 12,500 euro to a private jet company, and splashed out around £5,000 at a luxury golf resort in China.
He was also convicted of failing to declare a property in Germany, and hiding an almost £700,000 bank loan and shares in a tech firm.
In his defence, Becker said he did not know the difference between his personal and business bank accounts, and had belatedly mentioned properties he had a stake in when he realised they could be affected.
He told the court he did not read key letters about the bankruptcy proceedings, and had entrusted advisors to steer him through the legal difficulties.
Accused of hiding memorabilia including two Wimbledon trophies and an Olympic gold medal, Becker said he did not know where they have gone.
Today is Becker’s second criminal conviction and could now lead to spell behind bars.
He was found guilty in his native Germany in 2002 of tax evasion, after he dodged payments while splitting his living between Munich and his training base in Monaco.
Lawyers for Becker argued successfully in 2002 against an immediate prison sentence, and he was ordered to pay a 300,000 euro fine.
In the three week trial in London, Becker was forced to rake over his chequered financial past and told jurors how he had gone from a £50 million tennis star to bankrupt and handing over his prized possessions.
He said his earnings halves when his playing career ended, and negative press coverage of his personal life damaged “Brand Becker”.
The court case briefly touched on the conception of his daughter, Anna, in a notoriously brief encounter in a broom cupboard with a waitress at London restaurant Nobu, shortly before his first marriage to Barbara Becker collapsed.
He was acquitted by the jury of failing to declare his stake in his daughter’s home in Chelsea, which had been put into a trust for her.
And he was found not guilty of squirreling away his famous trophies, including his Wimbledon titles, his 1992 Olympic gold medal, Australian Open trophies from 1991 and 1996, the President’s Cup from 1985 and 1989, his 1989 Davis Cup trophy and a Davis Cup gold coin which he won in 1988.
During his evidence, the former World Number One described the moment he was actually declared bankrupt, just a couple of weeks before he was due at Wimbledon on BBC punditry duties.
“As you can imagine, I was very shocked at the fact”, he said. “I was very embarrassed, because it was all over world news.
“I walked through the gates of Wimbledon and it was in the news. I was very embarrassed that I was bankrupt.”
Becker had taken out a high interest loan with Phone4U businessman John Caudwell, and he had another loan from a bank which had been defaulted on.
He said he hoped to stave off bankruptcy proceedings at the eleventh hour by passing the debt on to a private equity firm. But a High Court judge rejected the proposal.
Becker denied all 24 charges brought under the Insolvency Act. He was convicted of four counts including removal of property, two counts of failing to disclose estate and concealing debt, and found not guilty of the remaining 20.
Chief executive of the Insolvency Service, Dean Beale, said: “Today’s verdict confirms that Boris Becker failed to comply with his legal obligation to declare significant assets in his bankruptcy.
“This conviction serves as a clear warning to those who think they can hide their assets and get away with it. You will be found out and prosecuted.”
