Banging up Boris?

[hughnique]

I read that the former Wimbledon tennis star Boris Becker may be facing up to seven years custody after concealing a vast amount of money during his insolvency case. It struck a chord with me, and I know this is slightly different from his case, but we had a similar situation with my father in laws divorce case, basically second time for him, third for her, 22 years his junior, from day one known as the gold digger. Crux of the matter is that from the inception of her leaving a 93 year old, at the time, after 22 years of marriage, we come to the declared assets of each party, bearing in mind that during the marriage she had not spent a brass farthing on anything, I estimated her savings in the region of £250K whereas the old man was about £75K. What she entered on the official court papers was a figure of £25K, having, presumably outsourced her money to family members. Luckily the court did not award any maintenance payments from the old boy as on paper it appeared he was in a better position than her. Unfortunately he did not last much longer after the decree nisi, but the minute that came through she purchased one of these static park homes in Whitstable at an estimated £200K, damn good rate of interest on that declared figure within a year. The court and the justice dept were not in the least bit interested in her shenanigan's, even though she had made a false declaration on the official court papers and had sorted away most of her assets to facilitate it. Seems a bit double standards to me the law is the law whoever you are surely.

[MAD87]

the law is the law whoever you are surely.

Theoretically only, sadly.

[niemeyjt]

the law is the law whoever you are surely.

Whatever gave you that idea? It is often said that British justice is the best you can buy - and therein lies the problem.

[MAD87]

@niemeyjt
If that's the problem, what's the solution?

[niemeyjt]

Boris Becker jailed for two-and-a-half years for hiding assets in bankruptcy

Boris Becker has been jailed for two-and-a-half years at Southwark Crown Court after he was found guilty of four charges relating to his 2017 bankruptcy.

The 54-year-old hid assets and loans amounting to £2.5 million - including a luxury villa in Germany - from his creditors after he was declared bankrupt in 2017 over an unpaid £3 million loan on his estate in Mallorca.

source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/0 ... -bankrupt/

[niemeyjt]

@niemeyjt
If that's the problem, what's the solution?

Interesting question - and would welcome your insights from a legal perspective.

As a layman, I wonder :

1. Have written, prescriptive laws rather than relying on interpretation and precedent

2. Have a more inquisitive, less adversarial approach

3. Refunds of all legal costs if acquitted

4. Full legal aid and assistance to those unable to pay themselves

5. Consequences for malicious prosecutions

[exile]

@niemeyjt
If that's the problem, what's the solution?

Interesting question - and would welcome your insights from a legal perspective.

As a layman, I wonder :

1. Have written, prescriptive laws rather than relying on interpretation and precedent

European system - it ain't going to happen

2. Have a more inquisitive, less adversarial approach

European system - it ain't going to happen

3. Refunds of all legal costs if acquitted

So who is going to pay? Would this encourage lawyers to do bad job to ensure they got paid?

4. Full legal aid and assistance to those unable to pay themselves

But how do you determine who can afford to pay? Witness Boris and his attempts to hide assets. And do assets count in the affordability? Do I have to sell my second home?
5. Consequences for malicious prosecutions

How do you determine if a prosecution is malicious rather than misguided?

Don't misunderstand, in principle I agree with all of your points but I see problems with all of them. In particular the first 2 which would require a complete rethink of the UK judicial combattative system.

[hughnique]

Once again is it deserving of a custodial sentence, he hasn't raped or killed anyone is he a danger to the public. More to the fact that he is possibly still in possession of some, if not all of these assets so confiscate them and realise the value from them, if that is what the objective is. Yet another occupant of already overcrowded prison facilities that has to be fed and watered for at least a year.

[Bayleaf]

Exactly. As someone who shot to fame at the tender age of 17 - all that went with it was bound to affect him in some way or other. He's not a bad guy - and plenty of other celebrities have done pretty much the same, and got off with a large fine.

Looks like someone wants to cream this story and make an example of him, to distract from other stuff ...... ooh, wash my mouth out!!

[niemeyjt]

I guess he could have been fined the amount he is alleged to have concealed - but that just turns the judicial system into "double or quits" - and again will allow those with money to buy their way out of a prison sentence.

I think prison takes three possible roles in society:

1. protection of the general public

2. punishment of perpetrator and as deterrence to others

3. rehabilitation of the perpetrator

This case falls squarely under no 2.

As for the lack of prison places, I would still like to see "supermax" style prisons built for those incapable of rehabilitation or posing a permanent threat to society - thus freeing up places in lower-security prisons for those still deserving incarceration.