Actress Han So-hee's mother, Ms. Shin (55), has received a suspended prison sentence for operating multiple illegal gambling houses.
According to the legal community on the 25th, Chief Judge Kim Do-hyung of the Chuncheon District Court's Wonju branch sentenced Ms. Shin (55) to one year in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered her to complete 120 hours of community service for the charge of operating gambling houses.
Ms. Shin is accused of opening seven gambling locations for profit from the end of January 2022 to the end of August this year. She allegedly received access codes and store manager codes for illegal gambling sites from members of an illegal gambling site she met through Telegram, and opened a total of seven locations: five in Wonju, one in Ulsan, and one in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, providing gambling games. She collected money by taking a percentage of the total amount bet by users and a percentage of the amount lost in bets.
The court noted, “Despite being fined 5 million won in 2023, Ms. Shin managed and operated gambling sites and conspired with multiple game operators to open gambling locations.” Ms. Shin was also caught in 2021 for violating the Game Industry Promotion Act and was fined 5 million won in 2023.
The court stated, “Although it is not clearly stated in the records, considering the business structure of the gambling houses and the profit distribution rate, it seems that the profits obtained by the defendant are also considerable.” However, they took into account that she had no prior convictions for similar offenses aside from the fine and that she had been detained for a certain period, leading to the suspended sentence.
Ms. Shin, who was tried while in custody, was released immediately after receiving the suspended sentence. The prosecution, which had sought a sentence of one year and six months in prison for Ms. Shin in the first trial, appealed, stating, “The sentence is too light and unjust.”
In relation to this, Han So-hee stated through her agency in September, “The matter concerning my mother is a very personal issue that she has caused, and I cannot express how devastated I feel upon learning about it through the news,” adding, “I want to clarify once again that this incident is entirely unrelated to me as an actress and is solely my mother’s unilateral action.”
Ms. Shin was also involved in a fraud controversy in 2020. At that time, an internet user claimed that Ms. Shin had disappeared with money from a savings group. Han So-hee revealed in a statement, “My parents divorced when I was about five years old, and I was raised by my grandmother,” and “Even after transferring to Ulsan, where my mother lives, upon entering high school, I continued to live with my grandmother, and after graduating, I moved to Seoul and entered this field.”
She further explained, “Since I did not have frequent contact with my mother, I learned about her debts only after turning 20, and as her daughter, I felt it was my duty to repay her debts as much as I could, even before my debut.”
Additionally, in 2022, it was reported that she was sued for failing to repay a total of 85 million won borrowed from an acquaintance. Han So-hee's side stated, “My mother used a bank account in my name to borrow money,” and “My mother opened the account without my knowledge when I was a minor and used it to borrow money.” They continued, “Han So-hee has no intention of taking responsibility for the related debts,” expressing, “I apologize to those who have been inadvertently harmed, but I hope that strong measures will be taken to prevent such incidents from happening again.”
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
