South Korean Business Man Arrested in $550,000 Scam to Meet BTS

August 18, 2017

A business man in South Korea responsible for a fake fan meeting scam involving the famous K-pop boy band group BTS has been busted.

The 37-year-old man, who is identified only by his surname as Choi, was accused of swindling a firm in January to which he offered the company a chance to have a fan meeting with the K-pop boy band group, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said on Thursday.

The firm, according to the report on The Korea Times, had paid Choi the amount of 624 million won ($547,765) from the month of January to March that was promised to be used for the fake fan meeting and band merchandise to be sold in China.

Choi, who operates a fashion goods manufacturing company, made a deal with BTS’ agency, Big Hit Entertainment, in January. The collaboration allows the accused to put photos of the group members and their nicknames on merchandise like travel carrier and backpacks.

The deal also entitled him to invite the band to a one-time promotion for his products, but only with the approval of the agency. It didn’t, however, cover the fan meeting or any other events that required the band.

Prosecutors continued to note that Choi committed the crime due to the growing monthly royalty payment of 330 million won ($289,664) that he had to pay to the agency on top of his 2 billion won ($1,755,560) debt before he made the deal.

Image via Wikimedia Commons / AJEONG_JM (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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