Ex-pro baseball player sentenced to prison for fraud after borrowing hundreds of millions while W2b in debt

A court has sentenced former professional baseball player An Ji-man, 43, to prison for fraud after he borrowed hundreds of millions of won from acquaintances and failed to repay them. Investigators found that An had already accumulated 2 billion won ($1.49 million) in debt when he took out the additional loans, using the borrowed money solely to pay off existing obligations. He argued at trial that he had intended to repay the money once he returned to professional baseball, but the court rejected that claim.

Judge Jeon Myeong-hwan of Daegu District Court's Criminal Division 11 sentenced An to one year and eight months in prison on fraud charges, the court announced Wednesday.

An was indicted on charges of borrowing a total of 322 million won from three acquaintances between April 2016 and October 2017 and failing to repay them.

In October 2015, An, then a pitcher for the Samsung Lions, was removed from the Korean Series roster after coming under investigation for overseas gambling. The following July, the Samsung Lions terminated his contract, cutting off his salary.

Investigators found that An already owed approximately 2 billion won at the time he borrowed the money from his acquaintances.

An solicited the loans by telling acquaintances he would win acquittal on appeal and return to his team to repay them if they lent him money for legal fees, and that he was constructing a building in Gumi and would repay the principal with interest by year's end. The borrowed funds, however, were used entirely to service his existing debts.

During the trial, An maintained that he had been transparent about his financial situation when borrowing the money and had genuinely intended to repay it upon returning to professional baseball. The court was unconvinced.

"An claims he expected to return to the sport, but that was nothing more than his own hope — his prospects for a comeback were uncertain," Judge Jeon said. "Had the victims known in advance that the money borrowed under the pretense of legal fees or construction costs would be used entirely to pay off debts, it is clear that none of them would have lent it."

The judge acknowledged that An had no prior convictions of a similar nature or criminal record beyond fines, but said the ruling took into account that An refused to accept criminal responsibility, made no effort to compensate most of the victims or reach a settlement with them, and exploited his public profile to commit the offenses.