PASSAGES: Boris Becker Taxed

By Jo Cavallo

07/15/2002 at 01:00 PM EDT

CHARGED: Three-time Wimbledon tennis champion Boris Becker, 34, is facing tax evasion charges in Munich and could face jail time if convicted, reports Reuters. Becker, who became the youngest player to win a Wimbledon championship in 1985 at age 17, has been under investigation for allegedly claiming his residence was in Monaco, a tax haven, while living in Germany, according to Manfred Wick, head of the Munich public prosecutor's office. No comment so far from Becker's camp. ... RETIRED: After 29 years as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, 67, conducted his last musical piece Sunday at Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Mass., and will take over as music director of the Vienna State Opera, reports Reuters. More than 14,000 patrons packed the music hall to bid farewell to Ozawa and hear performances by conductor John Williams, soprano Jessye Norman, jazz pianist Marcus Roberts, and the Boys Choir of Harlem. ... SPLIT: MSNBC anchor Ashleigh Banfield, 34, who received national attention for her reporting of the Sept. 11 attacks, and her fiance, Drew Nederpelt, a technology entrepreneur, have called off their wedding, which was scheduled to take place this summer, according to New York's Daily News. No reason was given. ... SET: Filmmaker Rory Kennedy, 33, the youngest child of the late Robert Kennedy, has completed a documentary of the AIDS epidemic called "Pandemic: Facing AIDS," which focuses on the personal struggles of five victims of the disease from around the world, reports Reuters. The film is slated to be shown on HBO next year.