Park Na-rae. JDB Entertainment
It became known that TV personality Park Na-rae, who faced ‘power abuse allegations’ from former managers, has been reported on suspicion of embezzlement.
According to Ilgan Sports on the 6th, former managers A and B submitted a complaint to the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul on the afternoon of the 5th, accusing Park Na-rae of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement).
The complaint states that Park Na-rae falsely registered ex-boyfriend C as a regular employee and paid, as monthly wages, a total of a little over 44 million KRW from January through November this year. It also alleges that in August this year, Park transferred about 300 million KRW from a company account to help C secure a jeonse deposit.
In response, the agency representing Park Na-rae countered, “Ex-boyfriend C worked for the company in a normal capacity and received wages, and all funds sent to C were remitted through normal procedures,” and added, “On the contrary, embezzlement of corporate funds by the former managers has been detected, and we are assessing the scale.”
It continued, “Park Na-rae raised their salaries well above those at their previous workplace, traveled to Japan together, and even gave a luxury watch, among other gestures, showing much care for the former managers,” and said, “She was greatly shocked by this matter.”
Earlier, on the 3rd, A and B applied to the Seoul Western District Court for a provisional attachment on real estate, claiming they suffered workplace harassment by Park Na-rae, including special injury, sexual harassment, and verbal abuse. They also announced a damages lawsuit seeking 100 million KRW.
They alleged that during their tenure, they were repeatedly given personal orders such as being pressured to drink, running errands for bar snacks, and cleaning up after parties, and were even forced to act as household helpers for the family. They also said they had to handle medical-related tasks like hospital appointments and proxy prescriptions, and that expense settlements for production costs were not handled properly. One manager claimed they were verbally abused for not drinking and were injured when struck by a glass allegedly thrown by Park Na-rae.
In response, Npark, the agency representing Park Na-rae, issued an official statement on the 5th, stating, “The former managers who had worked for one year and three months demanded, after receiving severance pay, an additional amount equivalent to 10% of the company revenue for the previous year,” and, “The amount demanded also continued to increase, reaching several hundred million KRW.”
