Former tennis ace Boris Becker learnt on Thursday that he will not have to face the lengthy prison term for tax evasion he had feared. Instead, the German sportsman, who was charged with filing false tax returns at the height of his career, has been fined 500,000 euros and given a two-year suspended sentence.
Although the 34-year-old has since paid back the three million euros he owed, prosecutors had been pressing for a tough penalty. His defence argued that prison would be too harsh a judgement especially as he’s paid back the tax. "Putting Mr Becker in jail would be senseless," said his lawyer, Klaus Volk, the day before the judgement was announced.
Speaking at his Wednesday court appearance, the three-times Wimbledon champion admitted he had made a mistake ten years ago. “I know I will have to pay the consequences for that,” he said, adding that he had never really focused on his financial dealings.
“I had tennis in my head and now and then my girls,” he said, referring to his much publicised love life. His claim that tax problems had prompted him to quit tennis provoked gasps in the court room.
Sixty-four raids in seven years on his property and that of his family members had damaged his career, he said. “Tennis is a very psychological sport. You have to be free from fear, worries and anxieties,” he told the court. “I gave it up a short while ago because I couldn’t continue in that way. This investigation has been a huge burden.”
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
