A former soccer player who defrauded about 500 million won from lovers and fans and squandered most of the embezzled money on sports gambling was sentenced to prison.
According to the legal community on the 5th, Judge Lee Jong-kwang of the Criminal Division 4 at the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced Kim (38) to three years in prison on charges of fraud.
From November 2019 to July last year, Kim deceived seven people and extorted about 570 million won. Among the victims were his lover and fans from his active career, according to investigations.
Kim was found to have borrowed money from victims by claiming that he had connections with professional basketball players and e-sports players and could generate investment returns through match-fixing. After retirement, Kim, who worked as a day laborer, falsely claimed that he worked as a scout for a professional soccer team, owned high-end apartments in Seoul and Ilsan, and operated a large-scale soccer academy.
Most of the borrowed money was used for gambling, including sports toto.
The court explained, "While the damage exceeds 500 million won, the repayment amount is only about 90 million won," but "considered it a favorable circumstance that Kim used some of the money for the medical expenses of his child suffering from an incurable disease."
Kim, who joined Pohang Steelers in 2004, played for teams including Busan Transportation Corporation Football Club. He was also sentenced to three months in prison for fraud in June last year.
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