"I've never seen a property registration extract like this," even experts shake their heads... Lee Seung-ki, despite his explanation... [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

"Singer and actor Lee Seung-ki (39) is being dragged into controversy over allegations of inflating property prices alongside Cha Ga-won, after paying a jeonse deposit three times higher than market value.

"On the night of the 2nd, the MBC current affairs and documentary program 'PD Notebook' covered various controversies surrounding Cha Ga-won and MC Mong. Cha Ga-won is the CEO of One Hundred Label and the representative of the real estate total service company, PIAK Group.

"On that day, the production team focused their reporting on allegations of an affair between Cha (Chairman) and MC Mong, as well as suspicions of gambling and embezzlement.

"Among these, the A Villa project built by Cha Ga-won's PIAK Group was also brought to light. Cha (Chairman) had previously been accused of inflating property prices by bringing in affiliated celebrities as tenants for a luxury villa project and collecting jeonse deposits more than three times the market rate. Earlier this January, the entertainment media outlet The Fact reported, 'Lee Seung-ki and Baekhyun are living in a high-end villa in Hannam-dong owned by One Hundred Label CEO Cha Ga-won, having paid jeonse deposits of 10.5 billion won and 16 billion won, respectively. This is twice the highest jeonse price for villas in Seoul. At the time of signing the jeonse contracts, Lee Seung-ki and Baekhyun each received large loans of 7 billion won and 10 billion won in their own names.' The report continued, 'As a result, CEO Cha Ga-won brought in affiliated celebrities, who are special related parties, as jeonse tenants in his villa, setting jeonse deposits that appear far higher than surrounding market rates, while Lee Seung-ki and Baekhyun received large loans. This could send a signal to the market that if famous celebrities are living in a place with such high jeonse prices, the sales price must be even higher.'

"Regarding this villa, the 'PD Notebook' production team stated, 'All four units remain unsold. As of now, they are still registered under the ownership of Cha (Chairman) and his spouse. Lee Seung-ki and Baekhyun are living there on jeonse, but we found something unusual in the property registration extract. A large loan was executed.'

"Appraiser Joong-hoon Cho remarked, 'I have never seen a property registration extract like this. It's the first time I've seen one. If these individuals were not celebrities like Lee Seung-ki or Baekhyun, I wonder if such a large loan would have been granted.'

"The 'PD Notebook' team reported, 'The previous maximum loan amount was 3.6 billion won. However, by converting it to a celebrity jeonse loan, the loan scale increased by more than three times. The loan was not executed by a Seoul financial institutional investor, but by the Suhyup Bank located in Wando, South Jeolla Province.' A Suhyup Bank official stated, 'We evaluated the loan based on the surrounding market and assessed whether Baekhyun had the income and ability to repay the interest.'

"A representative of the implementing company told 'PD Notebook,' '(Cha Ga-won) couldn't sell a single one of those houses, so he told me to buy it for 10 billion won. He tried to lure me, but I didn't buy it. The house is worth less than 5 billion won. He couldn't even sell one unit.'

"Lee Seung-ki's legal representative, attorney Yoon Yong-seok, stated, '(Cha Ga-won) initially recommended we sign a jeonse contract, but the agreed jeonse deposit amount was

"When the actual contract was signed later, the amount had increased several times over. Since this is not reasonable by common sense, when we asked for an explanation, they responded, 'We had it appraised, and it's worth 16 billion won.'

"Lee Seung-ki sent a statement to the 'PD Notebook' production team: '(Cha Ga-won) persistently urged us to move in, claiming that the unit above us was vacant and that he wanted to live close to us and rely on us. We refused multiple times, but he pleaded that he had nowhere else to turn. We ended up moving in urgently, and he delayed the appraisal, refusing to confirm the exact jeonse amount. Shortly after we moved in, he demanded a jeonse deposit that was more than three times the amount initially discussed.'

"He continued, 'He promised to bear the loan interest himself until the end. However, seeing that he has not even paid the promised jeonse loan interest since then, it does not appear that he has the money.'

"However, Cha Ga-won insisted, 'For the past three years, I have paid the interest, which amounts to hundreds of millions of won per month for our artists.'

"Cha (Chairman)'s legal representative added, 'Regarding the interest payment, we explained that this was a 'sales reservation.' We told the artists, 'You need to prove your income to earn money through your activities and buy an apartment. When you can afford to bear the tax burden, we will transfer everything to you.' That was the agreement.'

"However, the 'PD Notebook' production team clarified, 'Our investigation confirmed that the loan interest was paid with company funds, not by Cha Ga-won personally. For the past few months, even this has been borne directly by the celebrities.'

"Appraiser Joong-hoon Cho pointed out, 'This is a method frequently used by scammers in jeonse fraud cases. They set the jeonse price as high as possible and promise to pay the interest. The tenant thinks it's great because they don't have to put in any of their own money; they get the deposit, the loan, and the interest paid for them. But many people get scammed after moving into such properties.'

"Shortly after Lee Seung-ki moved in, articles appeared claiming it had 'recorded the highest jeonse price in Seoul.' Regarding this, attorney Lee Don-ho said, 'When a celebrity moves in, they issue press releases and get spotlighted. Since the amount is huge, the fact that 'a celebrity moved into a high-end villa in Hannam-dong' draws attention. That's why loans of 10 billion won or 13 billion won seem to come out. If they just get a loan of 10 billion won in their own name, Cha Ga-won pays the interest. It's a bait to sell the property.'

"'PD Notebook' reported that Lee Seung-ki and Baekhyun's move-in actually led to promotional effects. Furthermore, Cha Ga-won stated, 'The house prices actually rose. When I first said this villa was worth 20 billion won, people thought I was crazy. They said, 'That guy is crazy.' But what happened was that jeonse prices actually formed in the 10 billion won range. So, we raised the surrounding market prices too much. This is why I'm cautious; it's a sensitive time for real estate, and people will say, 'Cha Ga-won raised house prices.'

"Meanwhile, despite Lee Seung-ki's explanation, he has not escaped criticism. Netizens are voicing strong criticism, saying, 'How can you move in without even signing a jeonse contract?', 'Does this make sense?', 'The jeonse contract process involves signing a contract with a confirmed deposit, paying 10%, and settling the balance on moving day. Demanding the jeonse deposit right after moving is nonsense.', 'Do you just move in because someone pleads for help?', 'Shouldn't Lee Seung-ki be the one who fell for emotional appeals and handled this?', 'Do you really pay over 10 billion won of your own money to move into a jeonse just because an acquaintance wants to rely on you?', 'Why would you accept such pleas and move?', 'Cha Ga-won paid the jeonse loan interest and inflated the jeonse price to raise the sales price of that house. This isn't just jeonse fraud; it looks like he's an accomplice.', 'They should sue for fraud.', 'It's not normal to move in without even signing a contract.', 'Does this make sense? Who would move into a house with a 300% price difference without any benefit, paying 10 billion won each?', 'He's a know-it-all,' among other harsh criticisms.

"Meanwhile, Lee Seung-ki notified Cha Ga-won's One Hundred Label of terminating his exclusive contract, claiming he did not receive his settlement payments. When asked by the 'PD Notebook' production team about the extent of the damages, he replied, 'I did not receive my appearance fee for 'Sing Again' or payments for performances and events. It is difficult to disclose the specific amount, but it is around several hundred million won.'"

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*This content was translated by AI.