On the 15th, Hwang Jung-eum announced her official position through her agency Y1 Entertainment, saying, "First of all, I apologize for causing concern to many people with this embarrassing matter."
Actor Hwang Jung-eum has presented her position while standing trial on charges of embezzling company funds to invest in cryptocurrency.
On the 15th, Hwang Jung-eum announced her official position through her agency Y1 Entertainment.
Hwang Jung-eum said in a statement, "First of all, I apologize for causing concern to many people with this embarrassing matter."
"I have established and operated an entertainment agency for my entertainment activities. This entertainment agency is a company in which I hold 100% equity, and there have been no other artists affiliated with me; all revenue comes from my activities. In the process of thinking about ways to further grow the company, around 2021, I was encouraged by those around me to increase company funds through coin investments, leading me to jump into cryptocurrency investing, which I did not fully understand. Although the funds were in the company's name, they were revenue I earned from my activities, so I believe I made a poor judgment."
She continued, "While I did incur losses from coin investments, I hold 100% equity in the company, there were no other affiliated artists, and apart from banks that hold collateral, there were no other creditors, so I think it is fortunate that I did not cause harm to any third parties. To rectify the erroneous transaction relationship with the company, I am currently affiliated with another agency and am thoroughly cleaning up my transaction relationship with the former company. I have settled a significant portion of the funds withdrawn in the forming of advance payments from the company by disposing of personal assets, and I am in the process of clearing some outstanding payments."
Meanwhile, on this day, Director General Lim Jae-nam of the Jeju District Court's Second Criminal Division held the first trial for Hwang Jung-eum's alleged violation of the Act on the Punishment of Serious Economic Crimes (embezzlement).
According to the prosecution, Hwang Jung-eum was indicted without detention for embezzling over 4.34 billion won from the company's funds, including receiving 700 million won as an advance, to invest in cryptocurrency, up to December 2022.
The victim agency was identified as a family corporation in which Hwang Jung-eum holds 100% equity, and it was revealed that she had invested about 4.2 billion won of the embezzled funds in cryptocurrency. In response, Hwang Jung-eum's side acknowledged the facts of the indictment that day and requested to proceed with proceedings for compensation of the damages, which the court accepted.
