Cha Ga-won, chairman of Piarc Group and CEO of One Hundred. [One Hundred]
Cha Ga-won, chairman of Piarc Group and CEO of One Hundred. [One Hundred]

Prosecutors have sought an arrest warrant for Cha Ga-won, chairman of Piarc Group and CEO of talent agency One Hundred, on suspicion of fraud involving about 30 billion won ($20.5 million).

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office sought the warrant Tuesday on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, according to Yonhap.

Police had submitted arrest warrant requests for Cha twice last month, but prosecutors returned both, asking investigators to strengthen the factual basis for the charges. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit's financial crimes unit conducted additional investigation and filed a third warrant request on Wednesday.

Cha is accused of proposing a project to Nomers Co. that would use the intellectual property rights of entertainers signed to his agency, signing a contract, and then failing to carry out the project despite receiving 24.2 billion won in advance payments.

Police believe Cha concealed from Nomers the existence of a prior contract with another company — one that showed no signs of expiring soon — and entered into a duplicate agreement while unprepared to fulfill his obligations.

During the additional investigation ahead of the third warrant request, which included tracing Cha's bank accounts and analyzing his contractual relationships, investigators uncovered evidence suggesting he launched the talent agency while already carrying substantial debt and later used a contract-splitting scheme to roll over his liabilities.


ehkim@heraldcorp.com