Former T-ara member Ahreum (birth name Lee Ahreum, 31) has been found guilty of fraud after swindling millions of won from acquaintances and fans.

On April 15th KST, Judge Lee Nuri of the Ansan Branch of the Suwon District Court sentenced Ahreum to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for charges of fraud.

Ahreum was indicted without detention for borrowing money from acquaintances and fans under false pretenses between March and May 2023, claiming she needed it for personal reasons. She then failed to repay the loans, prompting the victims to file charges.

According to the plaintiffs, Ahreum cited “relationship issues” and “personal hardships” as reasons for the loans, but never returned the money. The total amount defrauded is reported to be around 37 million KRW (approx. $26,000 USD).

Initially, Ahreum denied the allegations, blaming hacking and her then-boyfriend. However, during police investigations, she eventually admitted to acting alone.

This is not Ahreum’s first legal issue. She was previously sentenced to eight months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence for child abuse and defamation. She had been charged with emotionally abusing her children by verbally attacking her ex-husband in front of them and defaming an individual connected to a legal dispute with a former boyfriend by publicly criticizing them on a livestream.

Ahreum joined T-ara in 2012 but left the group the following year in 2013. She married a businessman in 2019 and had two sons before divorcing in 2023. She later remarried her boyfriend and gave birth to a third child in November 2023. It is now reported that she is pregnant with her fourth child.

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