[Talk of the Town] Rain to face reinvestigation for alleged shareholder swindle.

[Talk of the Town] Rain to face reinvestigation for alleged shareholder swindle.
Cr. - koreajoongangdaily

Korean singer-actor Rain will be reinvestigated for allegations of embezzlement, prosecutors said yesterday.

The Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday that it ordered the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which conducted the original investigation and cleared Rain of the charges, to reopen the case following an appeal by the plaintiff.

In April 2010, the entertainer, along with seven other shareholders of his former company, J. Tune Entertainment, was accused of swindling investors out of 2.5 billion won ($2.3 million) and pocketing 2 billion won in the name of Rain’s modeling fees. In January of this year, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office cleared the singer, whose legal name is Jung Ji-hoon, of the charges, saying the allegations turned out not to be true after tracing the company’s cash flow.

After the plaintiff filed for an appeal, however, the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office ordered another investigation of the case, saying it is not clear whether Rain modeled for the company or solely for his own benefit.

In addition, prosecutors pointed out that the previous investigation was inconclusive with regard to whether the company paid rental fees for Rain’s car (30 million won) and entertainment office (47 million won).

Meanwhile, Rain is at the center of plagiarism allegations. His latest single “Busan Woman,” released Aug. 16, is alleged to have been copied from American singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq’s “Detroit Girl” (2004).