Singer and actor Lim Chang-jung opened up about his connection with stock price manipulation forces.
Lim Chang-jung said on his SNS on the 27th, "Unfortunately, I knew nothing until this incident occurred. Regardless of the authenticity of the incident and legal issues, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility as a public figure as it has had a large social impact." reported.
Lim Chang-jung is known to have reinvested 3 billion won out of the 5 billion won left over from selling company shares to stock price manipulators. Afterwards, he entrusted his ID card to invest as a proxy and suffered billions of dollars in losses.
Regarding this, he said, "I consider them as good-faith partners in the global entertainment business that I am aiming for, and while I am taking each step of the business, this situation suddenly arises and I am extremely embarrassed."
In addition, "Because they owned various IPs such as cable broadcasting channels, franchise-related IT companies, and drama production companies, I expected that there would be significant synergy with the business I was pursuing, and with trust, they proposed various partnership projects and discussed them." “He said.
He continued, “During the course of these discussions, they said they would acquire the shares of the entertainment agency owned by Lim Chang-jeong Co., Ltd., which I founded, and would also invest in my business through paid-in capital increase.” He added, “They recognize my corporate value and “I thought that collaborating with them would help develop my business, so I decided to sell a portion of my agency’s shares through a lawyer,” he added.
Singer A also revealed that he trusted and invested in Lim Chang-jung. In response, he said, "During this entire process, I invested my money in these people and incurred a large loss, but I did not attract or conduct any sales activities related to stocks to other investors, and the fact that I recommended investment to colleague A, as reported in some quarters, “It is clearly a misinformation. I have also clearly confirmed that this is a misinformation to my colleague A,” he explained.
Lim Chang-jeong complained of injustice, saying, "Unfortunately, I knew nothing until this incident broke out, and it was only after media reports broke that I realized something was wrong. I protested strongly to them, but it was already too late and it was of no use."
He said, "I tried to grow the company, and in the process, I experienced something unpleasant. I have never caused financial damage to anyone and have never taken any wrongful advantage. Please scold me for my ignorance, but criticize me for unconfirmed information. “Please don’t do it,” he asked.
Lim Chang-jeong said, "I lack professional financial knowledge, so my name continues to be mentioned in these cases, not on stage. Regardless of the financial loss, I am heartbroken. All facts will be revealed through the investigation, and any investigation will be done." “I will work sincerely,” he appealed.
Lastly, regarding the girl group Mimi Rose that he produced, he said, "Please support our juniors who should be singing about hope so that they do not get greatly hurt."
Below is the full text of Lim Chang-jeong’s article.
Hello, this is Lim Chang-jeong.
First of all, I would like to bow my head in apology with a sincerely heavy heart to everyone who watches me and my fans for causing inconvenience and concern to many people due to this incident.
However, I believe it is right to tell you the exact facts about this situation, so I will tell you the circumstances so far.
I wanted to develop the agency I founded into a global comprehensive entertainment company, and in the process, I met various investors.
Then, last November, I met people involved in the incident through an acquaintance. Since they owned various IPs, including cable broadcasting channels, franchise-related IT companies, and drama production companies, I expected that there would be significant synergy with the business I was pursuing, and with trust, they proposed various partnership projects and discussed them.
During these discussions, they agreed to acquire the shares of the entertainment agency owned by Lim Chang-jeong Co., Ltd., which I founded, and to invest in my business through paid-in capital increase, etc.
They recognize my corporate value, and I believe that collaborating with them will help develop my business, so I decided to sell a portion of my agency's shares through a lawyer.
In this process, they say that they are managing their investments by entrusting them with the stock accounts of famous, wealthy and reliable asset owners through value investments in undervalued blue-chip companies, and they present stock price graphs with high returns and account balances, and ask me to buy and sell stocks. They recommended that they invest the money in their investment management company.
I had very little experience in stock investment and did not know anything about stock trading, but since I had received a separate promise from them to invest funds for the entertainment business, I believed what they said as a good investment strategy and followed the same method as other investors. I opened an account with them and entrusted some of the stock money to them.
However, after opening an account, they did not tell me about individual stock items or specific details of stock transactions, and only installed an app called Account Info. (This app only allows you to check your balance and does not show credit loans, items held, or graphs at all)
Like countless other customers, I naturally followed the account opening process and left it up to them. They believed that the business was proceeding smoothly, including planning content to be aired on cable channels among the IPs they owned, completing the first recording, and touring golf courses in Japan and the United States where golf entertainment was filmed.
I regard them as good-faith partners in the global entertainment business that I am aiming for, and while I am taking each step of the business step by step, this situation suddenly arises and I am extremely embarrassed.
In this entire process, I invested my own money in them and only suffered a large loss, and I did not engage in any solicitation or sales activities related to stocks to other investors.
The information reported in some quarters that he recommended investment to his colleague, Mr. A, is clearly a misinformation.
This was clearly confirmed to be a false report by colleague A.
Unfortunately, I didn't know anything until this incident broke out, and it wasn't until media reports broke that I realized something was wrong. We protested strongly to them, but it was already too late and it was no use.
I tried to grow the company, and in the process, I experienced some unpleasant things.
I have never caused financial damage to anyone and have never taken any wrongful advantage. Please scold me for my ignorance, but please do not criticize me with unconfirmed information.
I feel a heavy sense of responsibility as a public figure because this incident has had a huge social impact, regardless of the authenticity of the incident and legal issues.
Because I lack professional financial knowledge, my name continues to be mentioned in these events rather than on stage. Aside from the financial loss, my heart breaks.
All facts will be revealed through the investigation, and I will faithfully participate in any investigation.
Please refrain from speculative or malicious reporting.
Once again, we bow our heads in apology to all the people and fans who were disappointed by this incident.
Please support us so that our juniors, who must sing of hope, do not get seriously hurt.
Reporter Junho Yoon, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr