ASTRO member/actor Cha Eun Woo is currently facing allegations of tax evasion. According to the National Tax Service, the star may owe as much as 20 billion KRW (~ 13.6 million USD), after dodging taxation on a portion of his earnings by subjecting the income to corporate tax through a "paper company".
In light of the massive media buzz and various speculations surrounding the allegations and their links to the family-owned eel restaurant in Ganghwa-do, called Eojaeyeon, 'Dispatch' has released a timeline with details and background information related to Cha Eun Woo's one-man agency, previously known as Cha's Gallery and currently known as The Annie.
#1. Cha Eun Woo sets up his one-man corporation, Cha's Gallery, on July 4, 2019. The company's registered location is Dongan-gu, Anyang-si. It's CEO is Cha Eun Woo, it's internal director, Cha Eun Woo's mother Mrs. Choi. It's financial manager is listed as Cha Eun Woo's father, Mr. Lee. The company's registered fields of operations included album production, album sales, management, event planning, advertisement planning, live performance planning and production, character production, cosmetics distribution, etc.
Then, in June of 2020, Cha's Gallery relocated to Tongjin-eup, Gimpo-si. In 2022, it relocated once again to Bureun-myeon, Ganghwa-gun, Ganghwa-do.
#2. Mrs. Choi, Cha Eun Woo's mother, was appointed as CEO of Cha's Gallery in September of 2020. In 2022, she set up the limited liability company, LNC, another company whose operations included management and other business related to entertainment.
In 2024, LNC rebranded into the limited liability company, The Annie. This company's operations expanded to include the management of Cha Eun Woo's real estate properties. The registered locations of both LNC and The Annie were Bureun-myeon, Ganghwa-gun, Ganghwa-do, the location of the eel restaurant, Eojaeyeon.
#3. The transition from a private corporation to a limited liability company, as previously reported by various media outlets, allowed Cha Eun Woo's family-operated agencies to operate without the threat of regular external audits. As a limited liability company, The Annie faced no legal responsibility of publicizing its financial accounts, or any other company information for that matter, such as its key employees, like Mrs. Choi, Mr. Lee, and Cha Eun Woo's brother, listed as another internal director.
#4. In 2019, Fantagio's largest shareholder, the Chinese corporation JC Group, faced bankruptcy due to various scandals. It was following these events that Cha Eun Woo began the steps to establish Cha's Gallery. After registering Cha's Gallery in 2020, Cha Eun Woo's mother, Mrs. Lee, formally acquired a popular culture and arts industry license through her 2-years of experience as CEO of Cha's Gallery.
#5. Cha Eun Woo renewed his exclusive management contract with Fantagio in 2022, around the same time that investor giant Nam Goong Gyeon acquired Fantagio. Cha Eun Woo's contract renewal proceeded with one of the largest contract payments in K-Pop history. It was around this time that the family-run corporation made the switch to a limited liability company, soon afterward, it negotiated a service contract with Fantagio.
As of now, it is difficult to confirm if the above details will be enough to prove that Cha Eun Woo purposely evaded taxes through an alleged "paper company". It is believed that the National Tax Service will soon reevaluate its decision to collect unpaid taxes from the K-Pop star through an appeal.
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