Wimbledon legend Boris Becker lost a huge part of his
£100 million fortune in dubious investments in Nigerian oil firms, it has been
claimed.
German news magazine Der Spiegel – citing documents from
soccer whistleblowing platform Football Leaks – said Becker struck the deal in
2013, which contributed to his recent bankruptcy. Spiegel said the “mega deal”
was brokered by a Canadian firm and a Nigerian employee of Becker, pictured.
It said documents showed that in July 2013 Becker held
shares in an oil and petrol firm in Nigeria. But the investments tanked and
last month he was declared bankrupt. John Briggs, Becker’s lawyer, told the
London court: “He is not a sophisticated individual when it comes to finances.”
Becker, now 49, was once estimated to be worth upwards of
£100 million. He was declared bankrupt over undisclosed sums owed to
London-based private bankers Arbuthnot Latham & Co since 2015.
His remaining assets will be disposed of to pay
creditors. Among earlier cash woes, Becker was landed with divorce and
paternity settlements in 2001 totaling more than £20 million – to his first
wife, Barbara, and Angela Ermakova, the Russian model who had his baby after a
brief encounter in a London restaurant.
The next year Becker received a two-year suspended
sentence for tax evasion. He was ordered to pay £2.5 million in back tax,
fines, and costs after claiming Monaco as his main residence while mostly
living in Munich. And in 2011 a Dubai property development to which he lent his
name went bust.
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