The Times - UK (2022-04-09)

the times | Saturday April 9 2022 2GM 7

News

Boris Becker’s reputation as the golden
boy of Wimbledon and the voice of
BBC tennis was in tatters yesterday as
he faced a long prison sentence over a
£2.5 million bankruptcy scam.
The six-time grand-slam winner was
cleared of hiding tennis trophies from
his bankruptcy trustees but convicted
of four of the remaining 15 charges.
Each carries up to seven years in jail.
A series of secret payments totalling
£350,000 beginning the day after his
bankruptcy included more than
£28,000 to his former wife, Barbara, 53,
a further £83,000 to his estranged
second wife, Lilly, 45, and £40,000 on
private surgery for an ankle injury.
When he was made bankrupt he
offered to hand over his wedding ring
but hid his ownership of a £1.3 million
home where his mother lives in
Leimen, Germany; a £692,000 loan
from a Liechtenstein bank; and shares
in Breaking Data Corp, a Canadian
artificial intelligence company.
He was cleared of concealing nine
trophies, including the cup he was
awarded when he became Wimble-
don’s youngest men’s champion aged 17
in 1985, and the 1992 Olympic gold
medal.
Becker, 54, from Battersea, south
London, told Southwark crown court
that his £35 million earnings from play-
ing were swallowed up by a divorce and
“expensive lifestyle commitments”.
He blamed a decision to borrow
£1.2 million from John Caudwell, the
billionaire founder of Phone4U, at 25
per cent interest, for his financial crisis.
The money was used to cover debts
on an estate in Majorca that he was
trying to sell. When it remained unsold
the loan was transferred to Arbuthnot
Latham & Co, a private bank, which
sought bankruptcy.
Caudwell denied after the verdict
that his loan had caused Becker’s
downfall. His spokesman said: “This is a
gross exaggeration and very unfair
given the context in which the loan was
advanced, which was to assist Mr Beck-
er at a time when he was under duress.”
The prosecution was brought by the
Insolvency Service on behalf of Kwasi
Kwarteng, the business secretary. Dean
Beale, chief executive of the service,
said: “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.”
Alex Jay, head of insolvency at the
City of London legal firm Stewarts, said
being found guilty in a criminal court of
bankruptcy offences is “quite rare”.
“The level of Mr Becker’s attempts to
frustrate the process, and avoid re-
paying his creditors, must
therefore have been
quite exceptional,” he
added.
Judge Deborah Tay-
lor will be asked to take
into account Beck-
er’s 2002 convic-
tion for tax
evasion in
Germany for
which he
received a
suspended
prison sen-
tence and paid
a £2.5 million
fine when he is
sentenced on
April 29.
Becker declined to
comment when he
left court with his girl-
friend, Lilian de Carval-
ho Monteiro, and Noah,
a son with his first wife.

Becker’s desperate bid to cover debt

David Brown

Downfall of

high-living

superstar who

blew £35m

Behind the story

W

hen Boris

Becker

burst into

the public

imagination

in 1985 by winning his first

Wimbledon final it marked

an extraordinary rise to

stardom. Then 17, he was the

youngest and first unseeded

player to claim the men’s

singles title (David Brown

writes).

His ascent was followed

yesterday by a similarly

extraordinary fall when a

jury found him guilty of four

charges under the

Insolvency Act for failing to

disclose his assets and

concealing debt.

The jury, which acquitted

him of a further 20 charges,

heard a story of a man who

claimed not to know the

location of some of his most

prized trophies, who took a

high-interest loan from one

of Britain’s richest

businessmen and who tried

to avoid bankruptcy by

claiming to have diplomatic

protection from the Central

African Republic.

Becker, who has earned at

least £35 million from

tournaments and

endorsements, was brought

low by his attempt to cling

on to his house in Majorca.

He accepted a loan of

£2 million from John

Caudwell, the billionaire

founder of Phones4U, with

an interest rate of 25 per

cent that he could not pay.

Becker’s popularity

suffered a blow in his native

Germany after a conviction

for tax evasion in 2002. His

initial denials of having

fathered a daughter during

a fleeting encounter in 1999

in the broom cupboard of a

London restaurant dented

his prestige in the UK,

where he moved in

2012.

There was also an

“expensive divorce”

from his first wife

Barbara Becker,

which included

maintenance

payments to

their two

sons. By

2013 the

BBC

commen-

tator’s

income

had

nosedived

but he

maintained an

“extravagant”

jet-set life, the

court was told.

Becker was

appointed Novak

Djokovic’s coach but

remained massively in debt.

Then he was introduced to

Nathalia Dauriac-Stoebe,

44, by her daughter,

Rhiannon, who worked as a

personal assistant in his

London private office.

Dauriac-Stoebe, a

French-born wine heiress,

ran the private wealth

management company of

Caudwell, 69, who would go

on to give him the loan.

Becker admitted he never

fully reads contracts so it is

unclear if he understood the

implication of the 25 per

cent annual interest rate or

that it was secured on his

Majorcan estate. He had

paid £422,000 for Finca de

Son Coll in 1997 and carried

out extensive improvements

including building a pool

house and tennis courts. In

a sign of his overstretched

finances, he was sued in

2011 by his gardener who

claimed he was owed

£246,000 salary and three

years later he was in a legal

dispute over an alleged

£312,000 unpaid bill for

building works. Caudwell’s

spokesman recalled:

“Natalia said, ‘If you don’t

give him a loan then there is

a strong chance he could go

to jail in Spain.’”

Becker appeared

unconcerned about his

growing financial troubles

and continued to rent a

£22,000-a-month home in

Wimbledon. His debts

continued to grow to a

reported £50 million, a

figure denied by Becker.

Caudwell became

impatient and transferred

the debt to Arbuthnot

Latham & Co. The private

bank, based in London, said

that under Spanish property

law it had to maintain the

interest rate. When Becker

failed to sell the Majorcan

estate to repay the loan the

bank sought his bankruptcy.

Becker tried to avoid

bankruptcy by claiming he

was entitled to diplomatic

immunity because the

Central African Republic

had appointed him as a

sport and culture attaché to

the European Union in April

2018. The republic’s foreign
      minister described the
      diplomatic passport as fake
      and Becker dropped the
      defence.
      His request for more time
      to raise a £6 million
      mortgage on the Majorcan
      property was refused in
      June 2017, with Judge
      Christine Derrett saying he
      gave the “impression of a
      man rather burying his
      head in the sand”.
      The property was valued
      at £8.4 million in 2017 and is
      now back on the market for
      £6.6 million.
      As part of his bankruptcy
      Becker was required to
      disclose all his other assets.
      The next year an auction of
      some of his trophies and
      memorabilia, which had
      been seized by the
      bankruptcy trustees Smith
      & Williamson, raised
      £687,000. The items
      included a silver replica of
      the US Open Trophy
      awarded after his men’s
      singles win against Ivan
      Lendl in 1989.
      However, the trophies
      from many of his many of
      his most famous victories
      have not been traced.
      Becker was charged with
      failing to “deliver up” nine
      awards including the
      Wimbledon championships
      in 1985 and 1989. He denied
      knowing what happened to
      them.
      In court Becker recalled
      the shock at being declared
      bankrupt in 2017 days
      before the start of the
      Wimbledon championship.
      “I was all over world news,
      and I walked through the
      gate of Wimbledon and
      everyone knew,” he said. “I
      was embarrassed because I
      was bankrupt.”

ALPHA PRESS; ALAMY

Fortunes won and lost

IN

£35 million prize money and

sponsorship deals during his

tennis career.

£1.2 million borrowed from

the billionaire John Caudwell

at interest rate of 25 per cent

in 2014.

£4.2 million borrowed from

the private bank Arbuthnot

Latham.

£1.8 million profits from the

sale of a Mercedes car

dealership in Germany.

£1.5 million Annual earnings

as a tennis, football, golf and

basketball commentator for

broadcasters including BBC.

£2.5 million peak earnings

each year from

endorsements.

£85,000 winnings as a poker

player.

£2 million estimated

earnings as coach to Novak

Djokovic.

OUT

£11.5 million divorce

settlement with his first wife,

Barbara Becker, including a

£1.5 million house in Miami.

£19,000 a month in

maintenance payments for

his two children with

Barbara.

£22,000 a month in rent for

his house near the All

England Lawn Tennis Club in

Wimbledon.

£3 million to purchase and

refurbish his estate on

Majorca.

£850,000 to purchase a flat

in Chelsea, west London, for

his daughter.

£4.8 million fine for tax

evasion in Germany in 2002.

Boris Becker with his estranged second wife, Lilly, to whom he transferred £83,000. His daughter

conceived in a broom cupboard lived in a £2.5 million flat in Chelsea. He won Wimbledon at 17

Wimbledon His debts

ESS; ALAMY