Singer-actor Lee Seung-gi accuses agency head of fraud

Singer and actor Lee Seung-gi accused his agency head — who is currently in detention on fraud charges — of making him take out a 7.3 billion won ($5.1 million) loan to rent her house, after which she never returned the deposit.

One Hundred Label Co-CEO Cha Ga-won and her husband orchestrated a scheme that exploited the singer-actor’s status to profit from a real estate deal, according to Hyunmyung law firm, which represents Lee. 

“This is more than a landlord lacking the intent or ability to return the deposit,” Lee’s representative said in a statement. “This […] constitutes a criminal offense and seems to have been a carefully orchestrated scheme in which a well-known entertainer was compelled to take out a substantial loan before the lease deposit was fraudulently appropriated.”

In 2024, Lee paid a 10.5 billion won jeonse (lump-sum) deposit to rent a luxury home in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, owned by Cha and her husband. Of that amount, 7.3 billion won was reportedly financed through bank loans.

The law firm explained that it issued an official statement after receiving a series of inquiries. It also noted that the lease agreement between the two parties had expired on Thursday, and that the singer-actor has prioritized resolving agency staff’s unpaid compensation and exclusive contract disputes related to other issues involving Cha.

“[Lee] believes that preventing further harm to innocent victims and restoring normal activities are more important than recovering personal financial losses,” the statement continued.

The Cha couple gained ownership of the high-value property from a trust company after receiving the deposit from the actor, according to Lee’s attorney. 

“We believe this was a deliberately planned fraud scheme in which funds obtained through a jeonse loan taken out in the name of a well-known celebrity were diverted for personal use and then not repaid when the lease expired.”

Cha’s attorney had assured both the court and Lee’s legal team that the lease deposit would be returned without issue. 

However, when the lease expired, Cha’s spouse allegedly refused to return the deposit because “she is the contracting party, and she is absent,” which Lee’s team described as evading liability.

“We will seek the strictest possible punishment for Cha to ensure that similar offenses do not happen again,” the statement added.

Cha was arrested on Monday on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. She has been accused of receiving 24.2 billion won in upfront payments from the entertainment-technology company knowmerce after proposing business ventures based on the intellectual property of artists signed to her entertainment agency. However, she never delivered on the promised projects. The total damages are estimated at 30 billion won.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]