[Sportschosun Baek Ji-eun] Yu Mo-ssi, the birth mother of trot singer Jang Yoon-jeong, has been accused of investment fraud.
On the June 30 episode of JTBC's "Incident Chief," the program reported on Yu's alleged scam under the subtitle, "The mother of a famous singer, a sweeping fraud scheme."
Yu allegedly took several million won from a victim she met at a jjimjilbang, saying, "If you invest in 'Miss Trot,' where Jang Yoon-jeong appeared, I can make you money."
Although Yu had long since cut ties with Jang, she lied that she had reconciled with her daughter and was on good terms with her. She also used two mobile phones to fabricate messages as if Jang had sent them to her, winning the victim's trust.
When the victim asked to recover the investment, Yu sent messages pretending to be Jang Yoon-jeong's management team and also stole the names of unrelated celebrities, including Park Na-rae and Noh Hong-chul. The victim's daughter eventually became suspicious after the payments kept being delayed and reported the case to police, exposing Yu's alleged crimes. Yu was already facing another complaint for using the same method to defraud a different victim.
In response, Jang Yoon-jeong's side said, "We are not in contact with her mother. Yu repeatedly tried to reach out through people around us, saying things like, 'Please pass this along to Jang Yoon-jeong,' but Jang did not respond at all."
Police investigations have been temporarily suspended because Yu's whereabouts have been unknown since April.
Jang Yoon-jeong had already cut ties with Yu and her younger brother, Jang Mo-ssi, more than 10 years ago.
In a pre-interview with SBS's "Healing Camp, Aren't You Happy," Jang said, "Around February 2013, I found out that Yu and Jang had squandered everything they had earned over 10 years, leaving 1 billion won in debt."
After scoring a mega hit with "Eomeona!" in 2004, Jang went on to release hit after hit and built a highly successful career. She took on an enormous schedule, earning the nickname "the queen of events" and even "a walking small business." However, appearing on "Park Jong-jin's Quick and Clear," Jang and Yu claimed that their living expenses over 10 years totaled 1.8 billion won, and that because Jang's event fees were split evenly with her agency, only 5.5 million won actually came in. Jang also said that her company had 10 billion won in sales and 200 employees, while admitting that money earned by Jang was used in her business. Yu appealed to emotions, saying she had never even seen Do Kyung-wan's face, learned of the marriage on TV, and could not attend her daughter's wedding.
Yu later continued to send emails to the media, attempting to shape public opinion. Much of it framed Jang as an unfilial daughter, including claims that she had tried to force her mother into a psychiatric hospital.
Jang Yoon-jeong eventually sought a restraining order against Yu, and the court issued a 100-meter no-contact order. Even so, when news broke that Jang was pregnant, Yu did not stop attacking her. She used anti-fan bloggers to post remarks criticizing her daughter and published letters aimed at Do Kyung-wan, her son-in-law, saying he could not be recognized as a son-in-law.
Jang's side later filed complaints against Yu and four others, including anti-fan bloggers, and also won part of a lawsuit seeking repayment of money lent to her younger brother, Jang. He had filed suit demanding the return of the money, claiming that the income Jang earned belonged to him, but he lost. Even after that, Yu shocked many by releasing photos of a Cheondojae ritual, saying she hoped Jang and her son Do Yeon-woo would do well. Cheondojae is a rite performed to send the spirit of the deceased to a better place.
Yu was eventually arrested in June 2018 on fraud charges. She was accused of borrowing a total of 415 million won from acquaintances on multiple occasions between 2015 and 2017 and failing to repay it. She was later paroled in December 2018 for treatment after being diagnosed with liver cancer.
Baek Ji-eun, silk781220@sportschosun.com
