MUNICH, Germany -- Boris Becker's financial woes mounted on Monday when his lawyer
said the Munich tax inspectorate had demanded that the former
champion pay some 25 million marks ($10.8 million) in back
taxes.
The tax bill is the latest in a catalogue of blows for the
three-times Wimbledon champion, following his high-profile
divorce in January and a hefty payout after he admitted
fathering a child with a Russian model in London.
Becker's lawyer, Jan Olaf Leisner, told Reuters that his
client was not willing to pay that amount and hoped to reach a
deal with the tax authorities by the end of the year.
Leisner said Becker's representatives had offered last year
to pay 14 million marks in back taxes, but failed to win an
assurance that such a payment would mean a guarantee of no
future criminal proceedings.
"It cannot follow that Becker is still threatened with
proceedings after paying back taxes," Leisner said.
The tax bill is the latest financial headache for the
big-serving German known as "Boom Boom" during his playing
career.
Becker divorced his wife of seven years, the German-American
Barbara Feltus, and reached a multi-million dollar divorce
settlement in January. The following month he admitted he had fathered a child with
Angela Ermekowa, a Russian model living in London, and he
promised to support the child.
Leisner confirmed a report in Monday's Der Spiegel magazine
and said he assumed that the tax investigator probing Becker's
finances would complete his final report soon, adding that the
player's lawyers were ready for talks with prosecutors.
Citing unnamed sources in Bavaria's financial
administration, Der Spiegel said Becker could be liable for 25
million marks of back tax payments, which could amount to 40
million marks when interest and lawyers fees were added.
The Munich finance authorities declined to comment on the
Der Spiegel report that the tax investigation into Becker's
affairs, which has run for five years, should be completed soon.
Munich prosecutors said they would only decide whether to
lay charges of tax evasion against Becker when the report was
completed. Chief prosecutor Manfred Wick said he wanted to see
whether the investigation had produced new information.
The state prosecution said they had decided they saw no
reason to launch legal proceedings against Becker in 1997, even
though tax inspectors had recommended such action at the time.
In 1998, tax inspectors carried out house searches on Becker
on suspicion of tax fraud. Becker denies any wrongdoing in his
tax dealings.
Tax inspectors suspect that, while the German listed his
official home as Monaco between 1990 and 1993, Becker was in
fact spending much of his time in Germany. If Becker spent more than half of any calendar year in
Germany, he would be liable to pay German taxes.
Leisner said on Monday that Becker had been living
permanently in Munich since 1994, although his lawyers have said
that during the early phase of his career the player was
constantly on the road.
Peter Graf, father of German former world No. 1 women's
player Steffi Graf, was released from a Stuttgart jail in 1998
after serving half of a three-year, nine-month sentence for
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