Kang Donghee (59), former professional basketball coach, has been sentenced to prison on charges of embezzling hundreds of millions of won from a basketball academy where he served as director.
On April 24, Judge Kim Eunhye of the Incheon District Court's Criminal Division 17 sentenced Kang to one year and two months in prison for embezzlement and breach of trust in the course of his duties.
Among the four officials from the basketball academy corporation who were indicted on the same charges, one was sentenced to one year in prison, while the other three received suspended sentences of two years after being sentenced to between nine months and one year in prison. However, the court did not immediately detain Kang and the other defendant who received actual prison terms, stating that "they must compensate the victims."
Kang and the others were indicted for embezzling 160 million won in corporate funds while jointly running the basketball academy from May to October 2018, as well as causing losses to the corporation by using 21 million won from the academy’s funds to pay attorney fees and to sign a new office lease.
Judge Kim stated, "When a management dispute arose within the victim company, the defendants withdrew and disposed of company funds for their own use, thereby worsening the company's finances. The degree of involvement by the defendants in the crime was also significant."
The judge also noted, "Witnesses and co-defendants testified that Kang was making the overall decisions. A review of the company's expenditure records confirms that Kang gave instructions regarding the disbursement of funds, including commissions."
However, Judge Kim explained the sentencing by saying, "Kang and the others did not retain or spend the funds themselves, the deposit for the officetel is expected to be returned, and the losses have not yet materialized. The court also considered that there is no prior record of similar offenses."
During his playing days, Kang, who was known as the "Magician of the Court," was found in 2011 to have received 47 million won from brokers and manipulated the outcome of some regular-season professional basketball games by fielding certain players. In 2013, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison in the first trial, which was upheld, and in September of the same year, he was expelled from the Korean Basketball League (KBL).
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