Actress Hwang Jung-eum is facing the biggest crisis since her debut. Although it seemed she had overcome controversies regarding her personal life, including her divorce from her ex-husband and public targeting incidents, she has now been hit with a larger label of "embezzlement charges." While she has fully repaid the amount of damage, attention is focused on Hwang Jung-eum as the prosecution has sought a 3-year prison sentence.
The Jeju District Court's Criminal Division 2 (Director General Lim Jae-nam) held a sentencing hearing on the 21st for Hwang Jung-eum, who is facing charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement). On that day, the prosecution sought a 3-year prison sentence for Hwang Jung-eum.
Hwang Jung-eum is accused of embezzling around 4.3 billion won from the agency she owns as a real owner in 2022. After borrowing 800 million won in July 2022 in the name of the agency, she transferred 700 million won from the agency's account to her personal account under the pretext of advance payment and invested it in cryptocurrency. It has been revealed that she invested a total of over 4.2 billion won of company funds into cryptocurrency in a total of 13 transactions by the end of October using the same method.
It has also been revealed that Hwang Jung-eum used embezzled company funds to pay her credit card bill of 4.44 million won and the interest of 1 million won on a stock collateral loan for the purpose of paying her property and local government tax.
In response, Hwang Jung-eum's side requested a continuance to repay the full amount of damage after admitting to all charges during the first trial held on May 15, and the court accepted this. Hwang Jung-eum fully repaid the amount of damage through the disposal of her private property on May 30 and June 5 during two transactions.
The prosecution stated that they considered the normal relationship in determining the sentence, and it has been reported that Hwang Jung-eum has reiterated her regret.
The embezzlement charges have dealt a significant blow to Hwang Jung-eum's career. After the controversy erupted, she faced public backlash and was edited as "minimal comments" on the TC AST E Channel variety show "Solo Series," in which she was appearing at the time. Since the program name was mentioned in connection with the negative issue, it was as if she had caused "inconvenience" to her colleagues who were appearing alongside the production team.
In particular, the damage to Hwang Jung-eum's image has been considerable. Hwang Jung-eum, who debuted as a member of the group Sugar and started her entertainment industry activities, has since elevated her profile through her acting career. Initially, she was embroiled in controversies regarding her acting ability, but she established herself as an actress with notable works such as "High Kick Through the Roof," "Can You Hear My Heart," "Golden Time," "Secret," "Kill Me, Heal Me," and "She Was Pretty."
In the meantime, Hwang Jung-eum also had to overcome personal life controversies. She underwent a divorce lawsuit with her ex-husband Lee Young-don, whom she married in 2016. Initially, they reconciled and had their second son, but ultimately faced a breakup. In particular, Hwang Jung-eum publicly targeted her ex-husband, suggesting he had culpability, and during this process, there was an incident where she mistakenly targeted the third party, leading to further controversy. Additionally, during the divorce proceedings, she experienced a brief romance and breakup with basketball player Kim Jong-kyu.
Ultimately, from the divorce to the mistaken identity regarding the third party and the on-and-off romance, Hwang Jung-eum faced relentless personal life issues, further compounded by the label of "embezzlement charges," leading to severe damage to her image as an actress.
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]