Lee Ha-nee’s side vows to contest it as double taxation
Also suspected, with her American husband, of violating the talent agency law
Actor Lee Ha-nee, who faces allegations of real estate speculation under a one-person agency corporation. Kyunghyang Shinmun file photo
Actor Lee Ha-nee has been accused of reaping speculative real estate and tax-avoidance benefits by purchasing a building in Hannam-dong under her one-person agency’s corporate name and registering a beef bone soup restaurant as a branch.
According to MBC ‘Straight’ aired on the 8th, Lee registered a beef bone soup restaurant located in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul as a branch of Hani Co., Ltd., which she established. The company has since changed its corporate name to Hope Project, with her U.S.-national husband as CEO and Lee as an internal director.
Lee’s agency purchased the building in November 2017 for 6.45 billion won. It is estimated that loans of more than about 3.5 billion won were taken out, exceeding half of the purchase price.
The owner of the restaurant said, “It is true that it is related to the agency. It is hard to say exactly,” adding, “I am close with (Lee Ha-nee’s) husband.”
Lee’s side said, “The building was intended to serve as the corporation’s head office location and a complex cultural and arts space, but the transfer of ownership was delayed, so the existing tenant’s lease had to be maintained.”
In response, ‘Straight’ continued to raise questions, saying, “According to the certified copy of the registry, the transfer of ownership was completed in 2020,” arguing that it is difficult to accept, based on the explanation alone, why the restaurant tenancy continued for a long period thereafter.
Last September, Lee was assessed about 6 billion won in additional taxes, including income tax, by the Seoul Regional National Tax Service. Regarding this, her side explained, “There was no tax evasion. Rather, double taxation was imposed,” and “We will seek a determination through legal procedures.”
Separately, Lee is under investigation by law enforcement for failing to register the agency for the business of planning popular culture and arts.
Earlier, the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul referred Lee, her husband Mr. Jang, and the corporation Hope Project to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office without detention last December on suspicion of violating the Act on the Development of the Public Culture and Arts Industry.
