Appearing on YouTube to Explain... Company A "Will Strive to Provide Compensation"
A dealer involved in the recent suspected car lease brokerage fraud amounting to around 200 billion KRW has been identified as comedian Lee Dong-yoon, formerly of KBS Gag Concert.
After suspicions arose regarding the company, Lee Dong-yoon apologized through the YouTube channel 'Chanadu,' saying, "I am sorry to everyone who trusted me and signed contracts." He added, "Since I was only focused on broadcasting work, I didn’t know much about the company’s system. When I joined, I initially thought, ‘Oh, I guess this kind of thing exists.’”
Comedian Lee Dong-yoon is addressing allegations of car lease brokerage fraud. [Photo by YouTube Chanadu capture]
According to Seocho Police Station and the leasing industry on the 2nd, Lee Dong-yoon’s model company, used car sales business A, represented by Mr. B, and company officials were accused of fraud on the 29th of last month.
Victims claim that Mr. B and others disappeared without paying the promised deposits during the car lease contract process. The number of victims is estimated to be between 1,000 and 2,000, with losses ranging from several tens of millions of KRW per person up to 700 million KRW.
Company A operated both used car sales and auto lease businesses, attracting users by offering to cover nearly half of the monthly fees if they paid 30-40% of the vehicle price as a deposit. Lee Dong-yoon was promoted as a dealer during this process. Company A’s sales grew rapidly from about 200 million KRW in 2015 to 20.8 billion KRW in 2019.
They attracted customers by promoting low usage fees, stating that if customers paid 30-40% of the vehicle price as a deposit, about half of the monthly payment would be supported. They also promised to return 70-80% of the deposit at the end of the contract. However, recently, at contract expiration, they failed to return deposits to many customers.
It is reported that Company A used deposits from new users to pay off deposits of existing users during car lease contracts, but then disappeared without returning the previously received deposits, raising suspicions of a Ponzi scheme.
In a statement, Company A said, “The company is in a difficult situation and it seems unlikely to return to normal operations,” but added, “We will try to compensate customers by preparing measures for their requests and damages, even if it takes time.”
Regarding this, Lee Dong-yoon said, “There had been no fraud cases until now, so I thought, ‘I guess this kind of sales method exists.’ The company said, ‘It’s a good profit structure and it’s growing,’ and personally, I thought, ‘It’s being managed well.’”
He also appealed in an interview with a media outlet, saying, “I am currently mentally unstable and receiving treatment,” and requested, “I hope people don’t jump to conclusions based on only one side of the story. Please listen to both sides and make a judgment.”
Meanwhile, Lee Dong-yoon debuted as the 20th generation KBS public recruitment comedian in 2005. He gained attention after revealing his changed appearance following orthognathic surgery for Class III malocclusion in March 2010. Later, he transformed into a used car dealer and in September last year, he stated on a YouTube channel that he sold over 200 vehicles in three years, earning about 10 billion KRW in profit.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
