The Seoul Central Court also slapped him with a fine of 350 million won and an overdraft fee of 25 million won.

The court did not issue a warrant to arrest him as it judged that "it is appropriate for him to appeal to a higher court and solve the dispute (with the prosecution) without detention."

Jun is also accused of pressuring the finance ministry in July 2017 to set aside a fresh budget of 2 billion won for a project that the e-sports body had been pushing forward. The budget was drawn up but was scrapped after the prosecution began to probe Jun.

Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Jun twice in November and December 2017, but they were turned down both times by the court, which cited disputable grounds for the charges. (Yonhap)