Late Lee Seon-gyun's manager acquaintance who extorted 300 million won: "I tried to deliver money to the blackmailer"

Acquaintance of Entertainment Venue Manager Appears as Witness in Trial
"Manager Also Threatened with 'I Will Kill Your Mother'" Claims

A friend of nightclub manager A (30, female), who was arrested and indicted for extorting 300 million won from the late actor Lee Seon-gyun on charges of blackmail, appeared in court as a witness and testified that "A was also threatened by someone else."

On the 7th, Yonhap News reported that B, a friend of nightclub manager A, appeared as a witness at the 7th trial held under the presiding of Judge Kwak Yeo-san at the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 4. On that day, B testified in court, "(A) was threatened with harm by the blackmailer," and added, "Among the threatening messages was a statement saying 'I will kill your mother.'"

Former actor C (29), who threatened the late Lee Seon-gyun, is appearing for detention review while holding his young child.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

B also revealed that she accompanied A when A went to deliver cash to the blackmailer. She explained, "A said she was going to Incheon (last September) with a shopping bag containing cash to give to the blackmailer, so I also rode in the car with her," and added, "I was worried that the blackmailer might harm A, who is like family to me, so I rode along." This statement implies that A was not trying to keep the 300 million won in cash received from Lee but intended to deliver it to the blackmailer.

Furthermore, B said, "The blackmailer kept changing the meeting place through Telegram messages and finally told us to come to the basement parking lot of a bar, but there was actually no parking lot there," and added, "When I asked for another location, there was no response, so we could not deliver the cash." When asked by the prosecution, "Why did you ride along even though you were wanted at the time for drug use charges?" B answered, "I wanted to help because A was suffering from threats and was being followed."

A was indicted for extorting 300 million won from Lee last September by calling him and saying, "My phone was hacked, and I am being threatened, so I need money to keep quiet." Police investigations revealed that the hacker who threatened A at the time was former actress C (29, female), who lived in the same apartment and was close to A.

C befriended A and, upon learning that A used methamphetamine and was close to Lee, impersonated a hacker using an illegal SIM chip to threaten A. However, when C failed to extort money from A, she later directly threatened Lee. C is accused of demanding 100 million won from Lee between October 13 and 17 last year and extorting 50 million won after threatening him.

A, who has six prior convictions including drug offenses, was separately indicted for using methamphetamine or marijuana three times in connection with this case. The prosecution requested a two-year prison sentence for A at the sentencing hearing in July. The sentencing date for the drug case is scheduled for the 31st of this month.