(London) After eight months in prison in the United Kingdom for financial offences, the former world No.1 in the eventful retirement Boris Becker was released on Thursday with a view to being deported, the agency reported. of British press PA.

The latter did not specify the destination of “Boom Boom Becker”, but everything suggests that it is his country, Germany. His mother Elvira Becker, 87, called his long-awaited return to the country the “best Christmas present”, the tabloid reported on Tuesday. The Sun.

The 55-year-old six-time Grand Slam winner, who has lived in the UK since 2012, was found guilty in April of concealing or illicitly transferring hundreds of thousands of euros and pounds to avoid settling his debts after being declared bankrupt.

He had been sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a London court, but only served eight months.

According to PA, which does not cite its sources, Boris Becker was released on Thursday morning from Huntercombe prison, about 60 miles west of London, because he was eligible for deportation as a convicted foreigner. a sentence of more than 12 months in prison.

According to British media, he should return to Germany in a private jet chartered by an audiovisual company, whose name has not been made public, which paid a generous sum for him to tell his story.

At the time of his bankruptcy in 2017, following a series of bad deals, the debts of the ex-tennis superstar, Wimbledon’s youngest winner at 17, were estimated at up to £50million.

Trophies sold

This case is not the first for Boris Becker, a restless sportsman, who had lived in Monaco and Switzerland before settling in England.

He has already had legal setbacks for unpaid debts with Spanish justice, concerning work in his villa in Mallorca, and with Swiss justice for not having paid the pastor who married him in 2009.

In 2002, the German courts sentenced him to a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 500,000 euros for some 1.7 million euros in tax arrears.

This time, he was notably accused of having transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling from a professional account to other accounts, in particular of his ex-wives, of not having declared property in Germany and of having hid a loan of 825,000 euros and shares in a company.

Boris Becker, who disputed all of the charges, had on the other hand been acquitted of certain other charges, including those relating to the disappearance of his trophies.

He had assured the hearing that he did not know where they were.

Among the nine accolades creditors would have liked to get their hands on are two of his three Wimbledon cups, two Australian Open trophies and his doubles gold at the 1992 Olympics.

The ex-star said during the trial, which was held from March 21 to April 8, that he still has “many” of the awards and memories he collected in 15 years on the circuit, but some have disappeared.

He had previously auctioned off some of his awards for 700,000 pounds to pay off some of his debts.