[Sportschosun Baek Ji-eun] MC Mong once again showed off his considerable wealth.
MC Mong held solo concerts titled "A Midsummer Night's Ice-Kkaekki" on the 14th and 16th at YES24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, Seoul. At the shows, he drew attention by appearing wearing a Richard Mille watch from the Swiss high-end brand. The model is a limited edition of 50 pieces created in collaboration with tennis star Rafael Nadal, and its resale price is reportedly around 1.8 billion won.
On the 25th, MC Mong also held a live match with Shin Jung-hwan. When Shin Jung-hwan turned down the concert festival invitation, MC Mong could not hide his disappointment, saying, "Why are you so disloyal, hyung? Have you always been like this?" Shin Jung-hwan repeatedly explained, "I have a wedding to host that day. It was scheduled two months ago, but I checked my schedule sheet late." Even so, MC Mong still looked hurt, and Shin Jung-hwan joked, "Then I'll go to your show, so please host the wedding for me."
The concert ended with every seat sold out, but public sentiment toward MC Mong's comeback remains cold. That is because the controversy surrounding ONE HUNDRED, the company he founded with Piak Group Chairman Cha Ga-won, has yet to be resolved.
MBC's "PD Note" claimed that MC Mong used company funds for illegal gambling and fell deeply into debt, and that Chairman Cha, with whom he allegedly had an inappropriate relationship, paid off gambling debts worth hundreds of billions of won. The program also raised suspicions that Chairman Cha had arranged luxury villas in Hannam-dong, which he built, for artists under his label, including Lee Seung-gi and Baekhyun, while demanding inflated deposits above market value. Chairman Cha and MC Mong said the allegations were "groundless" and announced plans to take legal action.
However, Lee Seung-gi's side is claiming a jeonse scam, saying Chairman Cha induced him to sign a lease deposit contract for 10.5 billion won, far above market price.
There were also claims that Baekhyun suffered losses amounting to about 63 billion won. YouTuber Lee Jin-ho claimed that Chairman Cha's side had promised to provide three luxury villas instead of a 35 billion won down payment, but the buildings have still not been completed and an unpaid balance of about 12 billion won remains. He also said that the 16 billion won jeonse deposit for the luxury villa owned by Chairman Cha, where Baekhyun is currently living, has become uncertain to recover since the chairman was arrested.
Although MC Mong left the company in July last year, he cannot escape moral responsibility, as artists such as Lee Seung-gi and Baekhyun decided to join ONE HUNDRED largely because of their personal ties with him.
Chairman Cha was arrested on the 3rd on charges of proposing a business using the IP of celebrities under Knowmerce Corp. even though he was not in a position to carry out the business, receiving 24.2 billion won in advance payments, and then failing to fulfill the project.
Reporter Baek Ji-eun silk781220@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
