A South Korean court has sentenced a woman who blackmailed football star Son Heung-min to four years in prison.
The woman in her 20s and her accomplice, a man in his 40s, were found guilty of blackmailing the former Tottenham captain by saying she was pregnant with his child.
The woman had approached Son sometime last year claiming she was carrying his child, when in fact she did not know whether that was the case, a Seoul district court heard, according to local media.
She extorted $300 million won ($200,000; £153,000) from him and threatened to go public with the allegation if he did not comply.
The woman spent the money on luxury and designer goods, AFP news agency reported.
“[The woman] insists she received the money as compensation and portrays herself as a victim,” prosecutors told the court on Monday. “But her claims do not fully match the facts,” they said, accusing her of planning the crime “thoroughly”.
The woman’s accomplice, who had threatened Son 15 times to get the money, was handed a two-year jail term for attempted blackmail.
When they demanded more money this year, Son went to the police.
The judge said the woman and her accomplice had abused Son’s celebrity for their crime, and that Son appeared to have gone through “intense mental anguish” after the case was reported in the media.
Son was in October named the second-highest paid footballer in Major League Soccer (MLS), North America’s top-tier football league akin to England’s Premier League.
In August, the 33-year-old left Tottenham after 10 years of service to join the Los Angeles Football Club, marking the most expensive transfer in MLS’ history.
Widely regarded as one of Asia’s best football stars, Son enjoys huge popularity in his home country and the region.
In 2022, while he still with the Spurs, he became the first Asian to win the Premier League’s golden boot award presented annually to the leading goal scorer in the league.
Additional reporting by Kelly Ng
