Former tennis great Boris Becker was released after serving eight months in a UK prison.
In April, Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced Becker, 55, to serve two and a half years after being found guilty of four Insolvency Act charges: removal of property, concealing debt and two counts of failing to disclose estate, per ABC News.
However, he only ended up serving eight months and was released on Thursday, according to CNN.
Additionally, Becker’s lawyer Christian-Oliver Moser told the media that the former athlete “has served his sentence” and returned to his home country of Germany, where he “is not subject to any penal restrictions.” If he had not gone back to Germany, Becker would have been deported from the UK
Moser informed reporters that requests for interviews “will not be answered” and additional details of Becker’s whereabouts in Germany have not been provided.
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In April, the jury also determined that Becky was guilty of not properly reporting property in Germany and concealing close to $1 million in debt, plus 75,000 shares in the artificial intelligence company Breaking Data Corp.
Following his bankruptcy in June 2017, Becker was found to have withdrawn six figures in funds from his business account and deposited them in other accounts, according to CNN. His former wife Barbara Feltus and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker — whom he separated from in 2018 — owned some of the accounts where Boris transferred money.
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During the trial, Becker said he spent the $50 million he earned throughout his career on divorcing his first wife [Feltus]child support and “expensive lifestyle commitments,” noting that his salary “reduced dramatically” after he retired in 1999, the outlet says.
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According to ABC News, the six-time Grand Slam champion had previously denied all the charges and said he had “cooperated with trustees tasked with securing his assets — even offering up his wedding ring — and had acted on expert advice.”
Becker was found not guilty on 20 additional counts against him, including accusations that he didn’t hand over his Olympic gold medal and two Wimbledon awards to the trustees tasked with helping him to cover his debt, ABC News reported.
Prior to his legal troubles, Becker spent three years coaching tennis champion Novak Djokovic, and during their time together, Djokovic won six Grand Slam singles titles. Becker himself won six Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal in doubles.
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