MC Mong Finally Appears in Court: "An Seong-hyun Flaunts Chaebol Connections, Demands Shares"

Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 11, Trial
MC Mong Appears via Video Relay

Singer MC Mong (real name Shin Dong-hyun), who had repeatedly avoided court summons, finally appeared and spoke about the 'coin listing bribery' case. MC Mong testified about professional golfer Ahn Seong-hyun, who is accused of fraud, saying, "He talked about Lee Boo-jin (President of Hotel Shilla) and Lee Seo-hyun (President of Samsung C&T), saying 'I played golf with those people, and they want to buy 2-3% of Big Planet Made (BPM, MC Mong's agency) shares,' and insisted on connecting the investment, asking for a 5% stake for himself."

MC Mong [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 3rd, at the trial held the previous day under the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 11 (Chief Judge Jeong Do-seong), MC Mong appeared in court via video link at his own request and said, "Ahn Seong-hyun asked me for 5% of the BPM shares, saying he wanted to receive investment from businessmen to grow the company significantly." The allegation that Ahn personally demanded BPM shares using funds from businessman Kang Jong-hyun, who is suspected to be the real owner of Bithumb Korea, is one of the core elements of the fraud charges against Ahn and aligns with the prosecution's indictment.

However, regarding the circumstances under which MC Mong received a large sum of 2 billion KRW in cash from Ahn in the process of transferring the 5% stake, the claims of the defendant and witnesses conflicted. Ahn's side has maintained that the amount was the 'purchase price' for acquiring the 5% stake. On the other hand, MC Mong, who received the money, testified that it was a 'deposit' entrusted by Ahn as a promise for investment, calling the purchase price claim a "complete lie." Choi Jae-ho, chairman of Fact Invest and the largest shareholder of BPM at the time, claimed, "The share sale happened without my knowledge," and accused MC Mong of deceiving him.

The investment discussions were canceled following MC Mong's 'foreign currency export case' that surfaced on April 13, 2022. Later, Ahn revealed that the 2 billion KRW was not his money but Kang Jong-hyun's and demanded its return from MC Mong. About a month later, MC Mong reportedly returned the money. However, when the judge and prosecutor repeatedly questioned the specific circumstances, MC Mong wavered in his testimony or avoided answering by saying, "I am not knowledgeable enough to know such detailed matters."

Meanwhile, after concluding the video testimony that day, the judge pointed out that MC Mong's unauthorized absences were "inappropriate," but canceled all previous fines. At the end of the trial, MC Mong apologized, saying, "I have trauma from four years of trials due to past military service fraud," and added, "I should have come earlier, but I am very sorry for coming late with such excuses."