Tennis legend Becker freed from prison, returns to Germany
Dec 14, 2022, 1:47 PM | Updated: Dec 15, 2022, 6:54 am
FILE - Former tennis player Boris Becker arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, April 29, 2022. British news agency Press Association reports that German tennis legend Boris Becker has been freed from prison after serving eight months of his sentence and now faces deportation from the UK. The 55-year-old German, who has lived in Britain since 2012, was released on Thursday Dec. 16, 2022, ahead of his deportation, PA reported, without citing sources. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
(AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
LONDON (AP) — German tennis legend Boris Becker has returned to Germany after serving eight months in prison in Britain, his lawyer said Thursday.
The 55-year-old German, who has lived in Britain since 2012, was released on Thursday morning and traveled back to Germany shortly thereafter.
Becker “has thus served his sentence and is not subject to any penal restrictions in Germany,” his lawyer, Christian-Oliver Moser, said in a statement. He did not give additional details about Becker’s location in Germany.
The three-time Wimbledon champion had been sentenced to 30 months in prison in April for illicitly transferring large amounts of money and hiding assets after he was declared bankrupt. He would normally have had to serve half of his sentence before being eligible for release, but was released early under a fast-track deportation program for foreign nationals.
He had been convicted by London’s Southwark Crown Court on four charges under the Insolvency Act, including removal of property, concealing debt and two counts of failing to disclose estate.
Becker rose to stardom in 1985 at the age of 17 when he became the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon singles title.
The former world number one was declared bankrupt in June 2017.
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