Former Manager and Ex-Actor Sentenced to Prison for Threatening Late Lee Seon-gyun to Extort Money

"Lee Seon-gyun Likely Experienced Severe Mental Distress"

The manager of an entertainment establishment and a former film actress who extorted over 300 million won from actor Lee Seon-gyun through threats have been sentenced to prison.

According to Yonhap News on the 19th, Judge Kwak Yeo-san of the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 4 sentenced A (30, female), the manager of the entertainment establishment charged with blackmail and other offenses, to 3 years and 6 months in prison during the sentencing trial. The judge also sentenced former film actress B (29, female), who was charged with the same offenses, to 4 years and 2 months in prison.

Judge Kwak stated, "A herself decided the amount to demand from the victim (Lee) to be 300 million won," and "It is difficult to see that B instructed the blackmail or engaged in 'gaslighting' (psychological manipulation) as claimed by A." He added, "Due to A's crime, the victim, who was a famous actor, likely experienced fear and severe mental distress," and explained, "B also directly threatened the victim, exacerbating the mental suffering."

A man in his 20s, a former actor, who threatened the late Lee Seon-gyun. Yonhap News

Judge Kwak further noted, "The victim took her own life after the drug investigation became public through the media," and "Even if other causes were involved, it cannot be denied that the defendants' blackmail was a cause of the victim's death." However, he stated, "A was a victim of B's threats, and those threats influenced the crime to some extent," and "Considering that B generally admitted wrongdoing, showed remorse, and has minor children to support," he explained the reasons for sentencing.

The prosecution requested 7 years imprisonment each for A and B at the sentencing hearing held on the 25th of last month. A was arrested and indicted on charges of extorting 300 million won from Lee in September last year by calling him and saying, "My phone was hacked and I am being threatened; I need money to keep quiet."

Police investigations later revealed that the hacker threatening A at the time was B, who lived in the same apartment and was on friendly terms with her. Upon learning that A had used methamphetamine and that she was close to Lee, B impersonated the hacker using an illegal SIM chip. However, when B failed to extort money from A, she directly threatened Lee on October last year, demanding 100 million won and eventually extorted 50 million won.

A, who has six prior convictions including drug offenses, was previously arrested and indicted last year on charges of using methamphetamine or marijuana three times and was sentenced to 1 year in prison last October. B, who has a past conviction for fraud, appeared in minor roles in films produced in 2012 and 2015.

Meanwhile, Lee passed away at a location in Seoul on December 27 last year while under police investigation for drug use. Consequently, the drug use case against him was closed due to 'lack of prosecution rights.'