Actor Hwang Jung-eum (40) is standing trial on charges she embezzled funds from her one-person agency and funneled the money into cryptocurrency ― and prosecutors are now asking for a three-year prison sentence.
At a closing-arguments hearing on the 21st before the Jeju District Court’s Criminal Division 2, presided over by Chief Judge Lim Jae-nam, prosecutors requested a three-year term for Hwang on embezzlement charges under Korea’s Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Prosecutors say that in 2022, Hwang borrowed 800 million won in the name of Hunminjeongeum Entertainment, an agency she wholly owned, then moved 700 million won from the company account to her personal account, recording it as an advance, and used it to buy crypto. Investigators allege that by December 2022 she had repeated the transfers 13 times, putting roughly 4.2 billion won out of about 4.34 billion won in company funds into digital assets.
At her first hearing in May, Hwang admitted the charges, saying she was urged to invest in crypto “in hopes of growing the company” and that she made a “poor decision” by using company money. She added that the company operated solely on income from her own acting work and had no other artists, so “no third parties were harmed.”
Hwang has since liquidated assets and repaid the full amount. Court filings show she completed the remaining repayments on May 30 and June 5 and submitted documentation to the bench.
She also apologized on social media at the time, writing, “I’m sorry for causing concern with something so shameful. I will take responsibility as required.”
Separately, Hwang finalized her divorce in May after nine years of marriage and is now raising her two sons on her own. Her ex-husband’s name has not been made public.
Sentencing is expected sometime in September.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)