In the meantime, Yoo Jae-hwan, who was accused of fraud, received a not guilty ruling.

On the 6th, the victims who sued Yoo Jae-hwan for fraud opened a social media account and issued an official statement from the coalition of victims of the composition fraud case.

Previously, the plaintiffs stated that in August of last year, "even though Yoo Jae-hwan received composition fees, he had neither the intent nor the ability to compose, yet he collected a total of over 55 million won from 23 people," and filed a lawsuit for fraud.

However, the police concluded that there was insufficient evidence to claim that Yoo Jae-hwan had no intent or ability to create music, thus ruling it as 'not guilty.'

The plaintiffs noted, "Although the administrative agency determined that criminal punishment for this case would be difficult, this does not mean that Mr. A (Yoo Jae-hwan)'s actions were justified. We are still convinced that this case is not merely a breach of contract, but rather a fraudulent act through organized deception."

They continued, "In particular, Mr. A divided the composition project into Phase 1 and Phase 2 under the guise of music production, and recruited Phase 2 participants while Phase 1 work had not been completed, collecting funds. This is clearly a form of pyramid scheme operation and is crucial evidence showing that there was no intention to fulfill the contract properly from the beginning."

Additionally, they stated, "Mr. A shows signs of trying to evade legal responsibility by claiming mental incapacity. Such claims cannot exempt him from responsibility, and since systematic and repetitive fraudulent acts have been confirmed, we believe that he should not be exonerated for mental incapacity." They added, "In the future, we plan to file an appeal, submit evidence to prove the breach of contract through expert evaluations, and report to the National Tax Service and relevant authorities to review for tax evasion."

Finally, they emphasized, "As victims, we will fight until this case is handled fairly. We will take action to raise awareness throughout the music industry to prevent similar damages from occurring again and to hold accountable those who are justly responsible."

Meanwhile, after being acquitted of fraud charges, Yoo Jae-hwan said, "I did not receive composition fees. I started the process with a good heart, only receiving production costs without charging for composition or arrangement fees, as if giving away songs that are like my children. I initially received 1.3 million won thinking it was enough to produce songs. However, as the session fees increased, the production costs rose from 1.5 million won to 1.8 million won, and eventually to 2 million won. I did not foresee that the production costs would rise this way, and it was a mistake to start with just 1.3 million won," and he promised to compensate the victims.

[Photo] OSEN DB

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