Prosecution Seeks 2-Year Prison Sentence for Former Coach Kang Dong-hee on Embezzlement Charges Related to Basketball School Funds

Former professional basketball coach Kang Dong-hee (59), who was accused of embezzling over 100 million won from the basketball school he led as director, has been sentenced to prison.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the prosecution requested a two-year prison sentence for former coach Kang, who was indicted on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust, at the sentencing hearing held the previous day before Judge Kim Eun-hye of the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 17.

The prosecution stated the reason for the sentence request was "considering the significant damage to the victim." The prosecution also requested prison sentences ranging from one year to one year and six months for two of the four corporate officials of the basketball school indicted on the same charges. The cases of the remaining two corporate officials have been separated and their sentencing hearings have not yet been held.

The sentencing hearing for former coach Kang and others is scheduled to take place at the Incheon District Court on April 24.

Former professional basketball coach Kang Dong-hee. Yonhap News

Former coach Kang and others were brought to trial on charges of embezzling 160 million won of corporate funds during the joint operation of the basketball school from May to October 2018. They are also accused of causing damage to the corporation by using 21 million won of basketball school funds to pay lawyer fees or to sign a lease for a new office around the same period.

During the trial, former coach Kang has essentially denied the charges, stating, "I did not conspire with other defendants and did not gain any benefits."

Nicknamed the "Wizard of the Court" during his playing days, former coach Kang was found to have accepted 47 million won from brokers in 2011 to insert reserve players into some professional basketball regular league games to manipulate the outcomes. Subsequently, his 10-month prison sentence handed down in the first trial in 2013 was finalized, and he was expelled from the Korean Basketball League (KBL) in September of the same year.