One Hundred Label CEO Cha Ga Won faces additional property seizures over tax arrears

Cha Ga Won, CEO of One Hundred, has had additional villas seized due to unpaid taxes.

According to an investigation by The Fact on February 2, the National Tax Service (Yongsan Tax Office) placed liens between January 22 and 28 on Cha’s ownership stakes in four units of Lanouvo 1, a villa complex located in Hannam-dong, Seoul, which she co-owns. A seizure by the National Tax Service means the property may be sold through forced execution to recover delinquent taxes.

Lanouvo 1 consists of four units, all jointly owned by Cha and her husband, identified as Mr. Park, each holding a 50 percent stake. As previously reported by The Fact, the property is already riddled with provisional seizures and liens.

On January 14, the National Tax Service (Gangnam Tax Office) seized one unit of Lanouvo 1. On January 20, the Seoul Central District Court issued provisional seizure orders on all four units after an enter tech company, referred to as Company A, filed a lawsuit accusing Cha of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, involving sums exceeding KRW 10 billion. The court approved Company A’s request for provisional seizure.

A similar situation applies to Lanouvo 2, where two units owned by One S Co., in which Cha serves as an internal director, were seized by the National Tax Service (Yeoksam Tax Office) on January 15, also due to unpaid taxes. These seizures span multiple jurisdictions, including Gangnam, Yeoksam, and Yongsan.

In addition, on January 29, one unit of Lanouvo 2 had a mortgage registered with a maximum secured amount of 2.08 billion KRW (1.4 million USD). Notably, the creditor is not a major financial institution but a private financial consulting firm, with Cha listed as the debtor.

Given that the maximum secured amount is typically set at around 120 percent of the actual loan value, Cha is believed to have borrowed approximately 1.7 billion KRW (approx. 1.2 million USD). However, a source in the financial sector noted that, considering the nature of the creditor, the secured amount may have been set at 130 to 140 percent, suggesting the actual loan was closer to 1.5 to 1.6 billion KRW (approx. 1.03 million to 1.1 million USD). This indicates an urgent need for liquidity.

The unit already carries mortgages totaling tens of billions of KRW. While the debtor name changed from One S Co. and Cha Ga Won to The Mu Co., both companies are owned by Cha. The reason for this complex restructuring remains unclear. What is evident is that Cha had already borrowed tens of billions of won using the villa as collateral, then took out an additional loan exceeding 1.5 billion KRW less than a year later.

Industry insiders say Cha is under severe financial strain. One Hundred, Big Planet Made, and INB100, the companies under her leadership, are all in capital impairment status. This has coincided with allegations of unpaid settlements to affiliated artists.

It has also been reported that Cha has failed to pay multiple partner companies. Tips and testimonies from several vendors have been received and verified by The Fact.