Actress Hwang Jung Eum, a former idol member of the girl group Sugar, faces a three-year prison sentence for embezzling 4.3 million won from a family company in which she owns a 100% stake.
The victim agency is Honmyungeum Entertainment, a family company in which Hwang Jung Eum owns 100% of its shares. Hwang Jung Eum was found to have invested approximately 4.2 billion won of the embezzled funds in cryptocurrencies.
According to a News1 report, prosecutors requested a three-year prison sentence for actress Hwang Jung Eum on the 21st of the month for embezzlement, violating the aggravated punishment law, and other economic crimes.
The exclusive report added that actress Hwang Jung Eum borrowed 800 million won in July 2022 on behalf of her agency, which was the actual owner. 700 million won was transferred from the agency’s account to the actress’s personal account under the pretext of temporary payment and cryptocurrency investment.
Reports also confirmed that the actress had made more than 13 transfers by October of that year, embezzling approximately 4.2 billion won of the company’s total 4.36 billion won in cryptocurrencies.
The actress also reportedly used this money for her personal financial transactions, including paying property and local taxes, which amounted to 4.44 million won in credit card bills and 1 million won in interest on a stock loan.
In the initial trial, held on May 15, Hwang Jung Eum pleaded guilty to all charges and requested an extension of proceedings to ensure full payment of compensation, which the court accepted. At that time, Hwang Jung Eum had already paid approximately 3 billion won.
Subsequently, Hwang Jung Eum reportedly disposed of her personal assets and paid the remaining compensation in two installments, on May 30 and June 5, and submitted the relevant documents to the Jeju District Court.
Previously, Hwang Jung Eum revealed, “I founded and ran an entertainment agency for my entertainment activities,” adding, “When I wanted to grow the company, those around me encouraged me to raise company funds through cryptocurrency investments around 2021, and I started investing in cryptocurrencies I wasn’t familiar with.” This was a fund in the company’s name, but I believe I made an ill-advised decision, as it was a profit from my activities.
Hwang Jung Eum’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for September.
