"I will answer diligently." Cha Ga-won faces potential arrest on fraud charges worth 300 billion won [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

Cha Ga-won, chairman of the PIAK Group and CEO of entertainment agency One Hundred Label, stands at a crossroads regarding arrest.

Around 10 a.m. on the 3rd, Presiding Judge Bu Dong-sik of Seoul Central District Court conducted a pre-arrest investigation (warrant substantive review) for Cha Ga-won, who is suspected of violating the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud).

Appearing at the court with his legal team around 9:27 a.m., Cha Ga-won told reporters asking which points he would focus on explaining, "I will return after answering diligently."

When asked about reasons for not proceeding with business after receiving advance payments and grounds for believing fraud charges do not hold, he offered no separate response and immediately entered the courthouse.

The decision on whether to arrest Cha Ga-won is expected to be made as early as late afternoon today.

Cha Ga-won is suspected of proposing business ventures to industry companies using the intellectual property (IP) of artists under his agency, signing contracts, receiving large advance payments, but failing to execute the actual businesses. The scale of damage is reported to be approximately 30 billion won.

However, Cha Ga-won's side completely denies the charges, stating that various suspicions surrounding him arose during a hostile mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process.

In connection with this, police raided and seized evidence at Big Planet Mate Entertainment, a subsidiary of One Hundred Label, in April, and summoned Cha Ga-won as a suspect for investigation in May.

Cha Ga-won's legal representative, lawyer Hyun Dong-yeop, stated today, "It seems the Prosecution Service has seriously considered various aspects, but this case involves many disputed points both factually and legally, so fraud cannot be established. We plan to demonstrate at court that there are no valid grounds for arrest." Cha Ga-won's side further added, "We aim to obtain a court ruling rejecting the arrest warrant, bringing an end to the police's excessive arrest warrant application and investigation."

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*This content was translated by AI.