Following recent controversy, CoKo Entertainment has finally closed its doors for business after long hardship in its financial status. Kim Jun Ho, a successful gag-man, started the agency with a co-worker, along with many of his fellow performers contracted.
The official announcement following the closure was made on January 24th by the agency themselves mentioning that they will no longer be in business due to its lack of funds.
In the official statement that follows, CoKo Entertainment said, “We thank everyone for all the attention CoKo Entertainment had received until now. Unfortunately, it is hard for us to announce such a grieving news to you all. We’d like to explain a more in-depth story of our financial issues that were brought to public in the recent past along with our opinion and plans for the future.”
The announcement continued, “As we have said in our previous reports, CoKo Entertainment’s CEO Mr. Kim, in partnership with Kim Jun Ho, continued to delay payments for the contracted performers along with their exclusive contract fee. At that point, we decided there were problems in the company’s finances. After further investigations, we found out that Mr. Kim had embezzled the company’s funds, including the performers’ income from their individual programs.
“Mr. Kim had run away to the United States by the time the crime was found out. The major shareholders have sued Mr. Kim for his crime and provided the police with solid evidence. The staff has made all efforts possible in order to revive the company and its finances. However, after Mr. Kim’s run away, many additional debts arose. Currently in January, the amount of debt reached millions of dollars. After such situations, the executives of CoKo Entertainment have agreed that revival of the company is impossible, thus ending its business.”
In addition to their current situations, Kim Jun Ho, as a representative staff of the company, had helped with their financial problems. The statement says, “to help performers who were not being paid, Kim Jun Ho used his own money to completely pay for those who were in need of money immediately. In fact, we are giving our best to completely pay for our part-time workers as soon as possible.”
The company ended their official statement with a rather sad finish, “We, CoKo Entertainment, apologize to our part-time workers, contracted performers, and all those who have watched and paid attention to us.”
In late 2014, news came to light that the co-CEO of CoKo Entertainment, Kim Woo Jung, had embezzled company funds and disappeared. Soon after, news arose of discord within the company with the revelation that its comedians had yet to be paid, along with other concerns of income distribution and unfair contracts. Continuing investigations, on January 12th, 2015, Kim Woo Jung was also charged with investment fraud. Despite the turmoil during the past few months, staff of the company have remained vigilant alongside Kim Jun Ho as investigations continued.
Source: Xports News
