A Korean court has ordered an American woman who played in the Korean basketball league last season after forging her birth certificate to pay her former team some W700 million in compensation (US$1=W1,085).

Chelsey Lee claimed her paternal grandmother is Korean. She is to pay KEB Hana Bank W745.8 million.

Lee debuted in the 2015-2016 season but faked her documents to beat the foreign-player quota, which is limited to two per team but does not cover those with Korean ancestry.

Her lie came to light when she applied for Korean citizenship in an attempt to play in the women's national basketball team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

She was kicked out of the team, and the games KEB Hana Bank played during the 2015-2016 season were nullified.

The court summoned Lee, who has returned to the U.S., but she did not show up and made no representation, which is treated as pleading guilty.

But KEB Hana Bank needs to file a separate lawsuit in the U.S. to retrieve the money because Lee has no assets in Korea.

