Boris Becker kept his horses under wraps from debt collectors by concealing them in his bedroom, his ex-wife has claimed.
Becker, 55, was jailed in April 2022 for hiding £2.5million in assets after declaring bankruptcy, serving nearly eight months in prison before being deported back to Germany.
The three-Wimbledon winner’s wife, Lilly Becker, claimed he had hidden the horses in his Majorca mansion when the taxman turned up in 2017, around the same period that the sportsman declared bankruptcy.
Recalling the comedy of errors to an upcoming ITVX documentary, the 45-year-old said: "The guy tries to go into the master bedroom but Boris had hid the horses. You have to pay taxes on them and he hadn’t.
Boris and Lilly at the MTV European Music Awards 2007
PA
"You see the funny side of the story because you walk into the bedroom and there’s a horse. I’m sorry, that’s funny."
Becker and second wife Lilly were married for nine years before unceremoniously separating in 2018.
Lilly has spoken out about a turbulent relationship with the tennis player, to whom she is reportedly still formally married.
She said: “There’s just something about this guy. He is sweet, kind, funny.
Boris Becker as Novak Djokovic's coach at Wimbledon in 2015
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"But he’s also arrogant and he’s a liar. All the women and the girls and the gossip, I was insecure. There was no guide, I wasn’t prepared but he’s done this all his life."
She has previously referred to Becker as “a devil” with the capacity to be “extremely hurtful with words”.
In a particularly emotive interview with German newspaper Bild, Lilly described him as a “narcissistic egoist” who was “constantly” unfaithful and who had eventually cast her out onto the streets.
She said: “I left him in 2018 and he won't forgive me. You don't leave a Boris Becker. Since then, he wants to destroy me.
“I didn't have a cent in cash. I didn't know where to go. We spent the first night on a bench in a cafe.”
Boris arrives alongside partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, for sentencing at Southwark Crown Court, in London
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The youngest-winner of Wimbledon at just 17-years-old, Becker lived in the UK from 2012 until he was deported back to Germany last year.
Despite racking up £38million in career earnings, he told his trial that these funds had been eaten away at by an expensive divorce, child maintenance payments, and “expensive lifestyle commitments.”
Southwark Crown Court heard that Becker was professedly saddled with debt, as he declared bankruptcy over an unpaid £3million loan in 2017.
However, it became increasingly apparent to the independent trustees tasked with distributing his assets to creditors that the former tennis star had stashed income away and out of sight.
BECKER IN FOCUS:
Boris Becker (right) with his son Noah leaving Southwark Crown Court, London
PA
Jurors heard about Becker’s business account ‘piggy bank’ of almost £1million, from which he dished out £350,000 quickly to nine recipients when the authorities first started poking around.
The former world number one tennis player also failed to declare a £700,000 bank loan worth £1.1million with interest, 75,000 shares in a tech company which were valued at £66,000, and a share in a £1million property in his German hometown of Leimen.
Boris Becker was found guilty of four charges, including including failing to disclose, concealing and removing significant assets, under the Insolvency Act 1986.
In the upcoming documentary, Becker denies the claim he did not pay taxes on the horses and that he hid them in the bedroom.
