The trial of Boris Becker in London started on Monday. Some details of the indictment were made public. And Becker himself surprised some of those present.
Boris Becker, looking serious, joined the queue at Southwark Crown Court. The former tennis star kept his eyes on the ground as he waited for the security check in front of the courthouse in central London, accompanied by his partner. Then the trial against the 54-year-old began, for whom a lot is at stake.
A total of 24 charges are to be checked under the direction of Judge Deborah Taylor in the next three weeks – then it could be determined whether Becker can continue his previous way of life impeccably.
Boris Becker appears with his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro. (Source: Peter Nicholls/Reuters)
In the worst case, he faces up to seven years in prison for allegations of lack of cooperation in his insolvency proceedings. The native of Leimen rejects the allegations.
A translator and serious allegations
Becker caused some astonishment by enlisting the help of a translator. The tennis legend has lived in London for many years and is also an expert at the BBC. Judge Taylor justified the decision by saying that he may need help with “technical vocabulary as well as legal terms.”
The focus of the first day of the trial was prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley. The lawyer presented her indictment and said, among other things: “The public prosecutor assumes that Mr. Becker acted dishonestly in relation to a number of assets, which he concealed in various ways from the persons responsible for determining the assets or from them not made available.”
What Chalkley means by that: Becker is said to have “hidden” real estate and trophies from investigators, for example. Among other things, it is about his Wimbledon trophies from 1985 and 1989 and his Olympic gold medal from 1992.
Boris Becker (right) in Barcelona in 1992 next to Michael Stich. (Source: Laci Perenyi/imago images)
It wouldn’t be the first punishment
In 2002, Becker was sentenced by a German court to a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine for tax evasion of around 1.7 million euros. The Spanish and Swiss judiciary also targeted him at times. He is now on trial in London.
“The presumption of innocence must also apply to me,” said Becker before the trial began: “Of course I will accept every verdict, but I hope that the judge and the twelve jurors will make a fair judgment.”