"Received Promises from Cha Ga-won, But..." Lee Seung-gi Faces Double Blow over 10.5 Billion Won Jeonse Deposit and Residence

As Cha Ga-won, chairperson of PIARC Group and CEO of One Hundred, has been arrested on charges of fraud involving tens of billions of won, singer Lee Seung-gi, who resides in a luxury villa owned by CEO Cha, has released a statement ahead of the expiration of his jeonse (lump-sum housing deposit) lease.

On the 5th, Lee's side stated through the media, "We received promises from the landlord, CEO Cha Ga-won, and her husband that they will return the money in accordance with the contract period. If the promise is broken this time as well, we will naturally take the strongest possible civil and criminal legal measures necessary."

The luxury villa in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where Lee currently resides, has a jeonse deposit amounting to 10.5 billion won. With the jeonse contract expiring on the 6th, approximately 7.3 billion won, which is half of the deposit, consists of bank loans.

Previously, Lee's side claimed that before signing the jeonse contract for the villa, CEO Cha actively recommended taking out a loan and agreed to pay the loan interest. However, as the controversy surrounding unsettled payments for agency artists spread, even the loan interest payments stopped being made. Since the villa has already been seized by the National Tax Service early this year due to CEO Cha's unpaid taxes, it is difficult to guarantee the full recovery of the deposit.

Lee had planned to move into a newly built building in Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, in time for the expiration of his jeonse lease, but his move-in was blocked as the construction company exercised a lien citing unpaid construction balances. A banner reading "This building is under a lien" is hung on the building, and the construction firm, PIARC Construction, is a company headed by CEO Cha's husband. Lee's side has filed an injunction for the execution of building delivery and is awaiting the court's decision.

Previously on the 3rd, the senior judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for CEO Cha, who faces charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes, stating that "there is a risk of destruction of evidence."

CEO Cha is accused of proposing an intellectual property (IP) business related to celebrities under her entertainment agency to Nomus Inc. and signing a contract, only to receive a 24.2 billion won advance payment without actually implementing the business. Investigations showed that the scale of the damage amounts to approximately 30 billion won.

Photo: Reporter Baek Seung-chul

(SBS E&S, Reporter Kang Kyung-yoon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.