[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

An Ji-man, 43, a former pitcher for the Samsung Lions, has been sentenced to prison for borrowing about 300 million won ($224,000) from acquaintances and failing to repay them.

Judge Jeon Myeong-hwan of the Daegu District Court sentenced An on Wednesday on fraud charges.

An was indicted on charges of borrowing 228 million won from an acquaintance identified as B on two occasions between April and June 2016, claiming he needed the money for construction costs, and then failing to repay the debt.

He also faces charges of borrowing 94 million won from another acquaintance, identified as C, between December 2015 and October 2017, telling the person the money was needed for attorney fees and other expenses, and then failing to repay it.

An was implicated in an overseas gambling scandal in October 2015 while still an active player, which led to his exclusion from that year's Korean Series roster and the loss of his salary. Investigators found he had also accumulated substantial debt with financial institutions at the time.

At trial, An denied the fraud charges, arguing he had expected to return to professional baseball after the investigation and trial concluded.

Judge Jeon rejected that defense, finding on the basis of victim testimony and financial transaction records that An already carried debts of around 2 billion won when he borrowed the money, and had deceived the victims about his ability and intention to repay.

An had previously been sentenced in April 2018 by the Daegu District Court to six months in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of violating the National Sports Promotion Act. That sentence was finalized on April 28 of that year.

"The defendant did not use the borrowed money for its stated purpose," Judge Jeon said. "Had the victims known the money would be used for other purposes, they would not have lent it to him."

However, the judge said he took into account that An had repaid 25.9 million won to some of the victims and had transferred his personal vehicle to them as partial repayment in determining the sentence.


min3654@heraldcorp.com