1 year, 8 months in prison… Ahn Ji-man fraud first trial, charges over 322 million won borrowed from an acquaintance

Former Samsung Lions pitcher Ahn Ji-man (43) was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison by the Daegu District Court on fraud charges for failing to repay 322 million won he borrowed from two acquaintances.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Three-line summary

On October 14, 2026, Criminal Division 11 (single judge) of the Daegu District Court sentenced Ahn Ji-man to 1 year and 8 months in prison on fraud charges.
The total he borrowed from two acquaintances between 2015 and 2017 under the pretext of construction costs and attorney fees was 322 million won.
His 2014 FA contract with Samsung, worth 4 years and 6.5 billion won, was the all-time second-largest for a pitcher when announced.

2 billion won. The debt level Ahn Ji-man was carrying around the time he borrowed the money, as the court viewed it. Chosun Biz reports that at the time of borrowing, the court determined he had debts of about 2 billion won . The ruling's core was that, in that state, he had borrowed more than 300 million won additionally from two acquaintances. The bullpen pitcher who secured a 4-year, 6.5 billion won FA contract received a prison sentence in the first trial.

Ahn Ji-man sentenced to 1 year and 8 months; key issue is 'ability to repay'

Hankook Ilbo reports that Judge Jeon Myeong-hwan of Criminal Single Division 11 at the Daegu District Court sentenced Ahn Ji-man on October 14 to1 year and 8 months in prison. The charges involve two matters. From April to June 2016, he borrowed 228 million won in two installments from an acquaintance under the pretext of construction costs. From December 2015 to October 2017, he borrowed 94 million won from another acquaintance under the pretext of attorney fees and other costs, and did not repay it.Yonhap News Agencyalso reported the same details.

The core issue is whether he had the ability and intent to repay when he borrowed the money. Reportedly, Ahn denied the charges, saying he expected to return to professional baseball once the investigation and trial were over. The court did not accept this argument. On the day of the sentencing, the court stated, "The defendant did not use the money borrowed from the victims for the purpose originally agreed upon." The court's judgment is that he deceived them about his ability and intent to repay.

Repaid amount: 25.9 million won, roughly 8% of the borrowed amount

The court said it considered that he repaid some victims 25.9 million won and transferred a car as repayment, which it considered in sentencing. Dividing 25.9 million won by the borrowed amount 322 million won gives about 8%. The car is not included in this calculation. Based only on the reported cash repayments, 296.1 million won remains.

The timing of the loans is also noteworthy. The 94 million won loan period ran from December 2015 to October 2017. Samsung's July 2016 termination of his contract falls within this period. The 228 million won in construction costs was borrowed from April to June 2016, just before the termination.

Ahn Ji-man, 43, 6.5 billion won FA pitcher: this case and past cases

KBO official recordsIn KBO official records, Ahn Ji-man was born October 1, 1983, and is 43 years old. He graduated from Daegu Commercial High School, joined Samsung in 2002, and played only for Samsung. His career totals are 593 games, 844 innings, 60 wins, 35 losses, 15 saves, and 177 holds, with a 3.59 ERA. He became the first right-handed pitcher to reach 100 holds in 2013, and held the career holds record until Kim Jin-sung recorded his 178th hold on August 11, 2026.

The FA contract he signed with Samsung on November 26, 2014 was 4 years, 6.5 billion won. The announced terms included a 3.5 billion won signing bonus and a 750 million won annual salary. He remains the first bullpen FA to sign for more than 5 billion won. However, this figure is only the announced total contract value and differs from the money he actually received or his current assets. Samsung terminated the contract in July 2016. The pitcher who had signed a 6.5 billion won contract received a prison sentence in the first trial for fraud over 322 million won borrowed from acquaintances.

Ranking of KBO pitcher FA contract totals at announcement in November 2014 (not current ranking)

Rank	Player	Total contract value
1	Yoon Seong-hwan	4 years, 8 billion won
2	Ahn Ji-man	4 years, 6.5 billion won
3	Jang Won-sam (previous record)	4 years, 6 billion won

This case is separate from the past gambling-related case. To avoid confusing it with past rulings, the confirmed cases are listed chronologically below. The November 2025 fraud case and this case are also separate matters, starting with different damage amounts.

Chronological summary of Ahn Ji-man-related trials

Period	Charge	Outcome
2017	Operating a gambling website case	First trial: 8 months in prison, 2 years suspended sentence → 2018 retrial after remand: 6 months in prison, 2 years suspended sentence
November 2025	Fraud (about 47 million won from an acquaintance)	6 months in prison, 2 years suspended sentence
October 14, 2026	Fraud (322 million won total)	First trial: 1 year and 8 months in prison

This ruling is only the first-trial sentencing and is not final. As of 18:00 on October 14, 2026, it could not be confirmed whether he appealed or was remanded into custody in court. We did not include his current career holds ranking because we could not obtain an official ranking table with a clear reference date.

Frequently asked questions

Q. How old is Ahn Ji-man?

According to KBO official records, he was born on October 1, 1983, and as of October 14, 2026, he is 43 years old.

Q. Has Ahn Ji-man's sentence been finalized?

No. The 1 year and 8 months prison sentence handed down by the Daegu District Court was a first-trial ruling. Whether he has appealed and whether the sentence is final have not yet been confirmed.

Q. How much was Ahn Ji-man's FA contract?

In November 2014, he signed a 4-year deal worth a total of 6.5 billion won with Samsung (3.5 billion won signing bonus, 750 million won annual salary). The contract was terminated in July 2016. This figure is the announced term at the time and should not be taken as the amount he actually received.

Related official sites

KBO official website — Check official KBO information
KBO Ahn Ji-man official career records — Check season-by-season and career pitching records
Samsung Lions official website — Check official Samsung Lions information

Representative image · File photo · Not a photo of the current game in the article · Photo composite · Photo=Wikimedia Commons (Choi2451), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo=Wikimedia Commons (Trainholic), CC BY-SA 3.0