Han So Hee and her agency broke their silence amidst the controversy the actress' mother, Mrs. Shin, got involved in. The celebrity mom, reportedly, scammed tens of millions of Won that she promised to pay but didn't.
JTBC broke the news that Seoul's Bangbae Police received a complaint about a mother of a famous celebrity on Feb. 25. This mom was said to be Han So Hee's mother, who was charged with fraud for 85 million Won or more than $70,000.
AllKpop noted Mrs. Shin borrowed 85 million Won from an acquaintance from February 2018 to September 2019. She promised to pay a huge interest in return, but that never happened.
She didn't pay the money at all. YouTuber Lee Jin Ho revealed the celebrity mom in question was Han So Hee's mother.
Mrs. Shin herself even admitted that she borrowed money into a bank account under her daughter's name, created when the actress was still a minor and needed her consent. However, she said she only used it for a few months because hers was unavailable for transactions.
It was also revealed that Mrs. Shin and the plaintiff had a dispute over the total amount of money needed to be paid due to not having a formal contract. However, in an interview with Lee Jin Ho, Mrs. Shin admitted that she didn't repay the borrowed money in time but promised to work hard to pay for it without filing for bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Han So Hee's agency, 9ATO Entertainment, released an official statement, via Koreaboo, to clear that the 27-year-old model had nothing to do with her mother's case. In fact, it said Mrs. Shin had done it several times, trying to take advantage of her daughter's "name and identity."
The "Nevertheless" star herself had no idea her mom was using her bank account to borrow money. There were also other incidents like this and things got worse when Mrs. Shin even "forged private documents."
The label added a civil trial was already held to solve these cases and it was found out that Han So Hee had no knowledge of all of these. In the April 2021 ruling of the Ulsan District Court, it was said that it couldn't be acknowledged that the "My Name" star should be "held responsible for the debt," stressing there was no evidence that linked her to the said account.
The company, then, apologized for the concern caused by the artist's personal affairs and hoped that there would be no other people who would fall victim to her mom in the future. Han So Hee herself said she had no plans to take responsibility for her mom's debts after using her name to borrow money.
