Boris Becker arrives at Southwark Crown Court (PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Tennis star Boris Becker says he was “shocked” and “embarrassed” when he was declared bankrupt less than a fortnight before the 2017 Wimbledon championship.
The six-time Grand Slam champion, 54, said he was driving through Germany between media engagements when he got the news that a court order had been made in London, on June 21, 2017.
He told Southwark crown court he did not expect to be made bankrupt, and had been hoping for a three-month period to negotiate for a private equity firm to take over his debt to bank Arbuthnot Latham.
“As you can imagine, I was very shocked at the fact”, he said.
Becker said he went to work for the BBC and other broadcasters when the Wimbledon championships started in early July, and after widespread media reporting of his bankruptcy.
“I was very embarrassed, because it was all over world news”, he told the jury.
“I walked through the gates of Wimbledon and it was in the news. I was very embarrassed that I was bankrupt.”
Becker said the situation was compounded by the “stressful” breakdown of his marriage to second wife Lilly Becker at the same time.
“We were living in separate quarters of the house in Wimbledon”, he said, going on to describe an incident while he was on duty commentating on Roger Federer’s quarter final match.
“My son Elias called me saying my wife was breaking down the house, furniture, and windows”, he said. “The police came.”
Becker, the former World Number One, is accused of dispersing his money and hiding assets during the time of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Prosecutors say the star used a business bank account “like a piggy bank” for personal spending, allegedly continuing to spend thousands on private school fees and shopping at Polo Ralph Lauren and Harrods despite legal controls on his finances.
Becker told the court he believed bankruptcy meant he would “lose all my assets”, but he was advised that the terms of the court order meant he was “personally bankrupt and not professionally bankrupt”.
“You can use the company account”, he said he was advised.
Becker faces allegations he did not declare his interests in two German properties as well as a flat for his daughter in Chelsea.
He told jurors he had forgotten about his stake in one of the German homes, and he was unsure at the time about his interest in the other two properties.
Becker is accused of concealing around £950,000 from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership, and he is also suspected of transferring funds to bank accounts held by his ex-wife Barbara Becker and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.
In addition, Becker is accused of failing to hand over trophies from his tennis career to be sold, including the 1985 and 1989 Wimbledon titles and his 1992 Olympic gold medal.
In evidence on Monday morning, Becker blamed global media coverage of his private life for his worsening financial woes as he told a court how he went from a £40 million tennis legend to being declared bankrupt in 2017.
Becker said he faced a “very expensive divorce” when his first marriage to former model Barbara Becker broke down in 2001, while he was also paying to support a daughter he had fathered with a different woman at around the same time.
Becker retired from playing tennis in 1999, and said by 2012 he faced “considerable financial difficulties” thanks to his reduced earning potential, payments to his ex-wife, supporting his children, and continued to bankroll a luxury lifestyle.
Asked by his barrister, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, about the “publicity that followed you”, Becker told jurors: “It is very difficult when you are bankrupt and in the headlines every week for it.
“It is very difficult to make a lot of money with my name.”
The court has heard how the former tennis ace, who went on to become a BBC pundit and commentator, was convicted in Germany of tax evasion in 2002, while his financial struggles and personal life continued to appear in the news in the years that followed.
“My image wasn’t what as good any more – Boris Becker wasn’t regarded as highly as before”, he said.
Referring to sponsors not renewing deals, he said: “They didn’t want to be associated with someone criticised in the media.”
Becker took out loans as he owed money to contractors who had been carrying out work on his sprawling complex in Mallorca, named Finca, which Becker valued at 50 million euros.
One loan was with Phone4U billionaire John Caudwell, who the tennis ace had met at a 2011 charity ball, with a 25 per cent interest rate and the possibility of taking possession of Finca if Becker defaulted on repayments.
Becker said he earned around £20 million ($25m) in prize money and £20 million (25m euros) in sponsorship deals during his glittering tennis career, which included US Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open titles as well as an Olympic gold medal and two Davis Cup triumphs.
But by 2012 he was desperately trying to sell his Finca property to raise money, in the face of global media attention which was particularly strong in Germany and the UK.
“It was public knowledge that I had to sell the Finca to generate money”, he told the court.
“Naturally people didn’t offer anything close to what I wanted because they knew I needed to sell the Finca quickly.”
The retired tennis ace told the court he had left school at 16 to go professional, and had minimal involvement in his finances and sponsorship deals during his playing days.
“My role was to practice, to play well, and hopefully win tournaments”, he said. “Pretty much everything else was taken care of.”
He said his physio acted as his personal assistant, thanks to the amount of time they spent together, and he would “skim read” contracts, noting only their value and duration.
“I don’t have the patience to read all the contracts I receive”, he said, adding that he “trusted the judgement” of his agent.
Becker, a father-of-four, has the assistance of a German interpreter for the trial, and has made use of her sporadically to explain questions he does not fully understand.
Becker, a German national, denies all 24 charges. The trial continues.
