"Sentenced to Prison for Deceiving Parents with Exclusive Contracts Promising Lead Child Actor Debut..."

The photo is unrelated to the article content. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The CEO of an entertainment agency who deceived parents by promising to cast child actors in commercial films or terrestrial broadcasts after signing exclusive contracts was sentenced to prison in the first trial.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, Judge Bang Hyemi of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 recently sentenced A (48, male), the CEO of the agency indicted on fraud charges, to one year in prison.

Earlier, from August 2018 to January of the following year, A operated a child actor specialized entertainment agency in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and deceived four victims by saying things like "commercial films or terrestrial dramas cannot support non-exclusive contract trainees" or "if you sign an exclusive contract, we will debut your child as a lead in a drama starring a certain actor," receiving between 5.7 million and 14.5 million KRW from each victim, and was prosecuted for embezzlement.

According to investigative authorities, A even told parents who complained about the failure of casting, "You will not be able to work as a child actor during the exclusive contract period."

In court, A's side argued, "We only mentioned that an exclusive contract must be signed to apply for casting in terrestrial broadcasts, commercial films, and dramas through the company, but we never promised to cast in specific broadcasts," and "there was no intention to deceive the victims or embezzle money."

The court ruled most of the charges guilty, stating, "This is a crime that embezzled money by exploiting the feelings of parents with children who want to become child actors, and considering the content, method, and amount embezzled, the nature of the crime is serious." It also reprimanded, "The victims want the defendant to be punished, and the defendant has multiple prior convictions for fraud and committed this crime within the recidivism period (3 years after the completion or exemption of sentence execution)."

However, the court said, "Considering that the defendant paid 1.8 million to 2.5 million KRW to some victims and other sentencing factors, the sentence was determined," and "Considering residence, family relations, and court attendance, there is no reason or necessity for detention, so the defendant will not be detained in court."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.