Police have launched a compulsory investigation, raiding the entertainment company led by Chairman Cha Ga-won, who has largely denied the fraud accusations against her.
According to an MBN report on the 8th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crimes Investigation Unit conducted a search and seizure on the 3rd at an entertainment company in Gangnam run by Cha, securing related materials.
Cha is accused of pitching joint ventures to companies in related industries by leveraging her artists’ intellectual property (IP), taking advance payments, and then failing to carry out the projects. Police have combined three criminal complaints filed against her into one investigation. The alleged damages are said to total about 30 billion won.
Investigators plan to review the seized materials to examine the full scope of the allegations against Cha.
Earlier this year, One Hundred stated it had “not been formally served with any complaint related to an alleged fraud in the 10 billion won range,” flatly denying the accusations.
At the time, One Hundred also claimed there was “no illegal activity regarding advance payments,” adding that “Chairman Cha Ga-won actually put in more personal funds.” Addressing a dispute with a collaborator referred to as Company A, it said, “We halted the collaboration due to Company A’s fault,” and noted it would consider legal action, including countersuits, if necessary.
Cha co-founded One Hundred with MC Mong in 2023 and is now running the company solo. Amid a dispute over unpaid payments, artists including TAEMIN, THE BOYZ, VIVIZ, Lee Mujin, BE'O, and Lee Seung-gi have notified the company of contract terminations and have since left.
Regarding the fraud complaints, Cha’s side has reportedly said through The Attorney that they are “false accusations aimed at taking over the company” and vowed a strong response going forward.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)