An Ji-man (42), a former pitcher for the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) Samsung Lions, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, in the first trial on charges of borrowing tens of millions of won from a car dealer as a retainer for an attorney and failing to repay it.
According to legal sources on the 20th, the Daegu District Court Criminal Division 3 Single-Judge Panel (Presiding Judge Park Tae-an) handed down the ruling on An, who was indicted on fraud charges. The court also ordered An to complete 80 hours of community service.
An was indicted on charges of saying to a car dealer he came to know through an acquaintance at a gas company office in Ihyeon-dong, Seo District, Daegu, on Jan. 11, 2016, "I need an attorney retainer expense, so if you lend me money, I will create a comprehensive mortgage right on a vehicle under my name and repay the principal in six months," then receiving a transfer of 47.5 million won and not repaying it.
At the time, after being excluded from the Korea Series roster in Oct. 2015 due to an overseas gambling case, An could no longer continue his playing career and was found to have had neither the intent nor the ability to repay the loan.
He also did not use the borrowed money for attorney expenses but instead used it to repay part of 1.198 billion won in debt he had with a secondary financial institution, and the car on which he created the comprehensive mortgage right was transferred to another creditor.
The court said, "The borrowed 47.5 million won cannot be considered a small amount, and the damage has not been remedied," adding, "We determined the sentence in consideration of factors such as the defendant paying 15.5 million won to the victim," explaining the reasons for the sentence.