[ASKKPOP] Agency president charged for tricking woman to invest in Lee Min Ho's photo shoot

TheSeoul Metro Police Agencyrevealed on November 9 that they have booked an undisclosed agency's president for charges of embezzling investment funds under the guise of using the money forLee Min Ho's photo shoot. 

The agency president, identified by surnameKim, was booked on charges of failing to return the principal balance of 600 million KRW (~$517,000 USD) he received from entrepreneur 'A'. 'A' had requested Kim multiple times to get her money back but when the attempts failed, she reported Kim to the police. 

According to police, Kim had gained the publication rights for Lee Min Ho's photos from the actor's agencyStarhaus Entertainmentfor 450 million KRW (~$387,000 USD) back in 2013. 

'A' made an investment of 600 million KRW with the confidence that she would get her principal back along with 18% of the total profits made from the photo shoot. However, Kim never disbursed the promised profits let alone the principal balance despite Lee Min Ho's photo shoot amassing around 1 billion KRW (~$861,000 USD) in sales. 

Following investigations, the police revealed, "The actual revenues were around 600 million KRW and because the sales didn't hit break even, there was no money to return [to the investor]." 

Regarding this fraud, a Starhaus Entertainment rep said, "There is no direct relation to the agency so right now we are just keeping our eye on the case."