“Please refrain from misunderstandings,” says SNSD’s Taeyeon in response to real estate fraud

On October 28, Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation (also known as SNSD) took to her Instagram to personally respond to reports stating she fell victim to a real estate scam. K-media outlet YTN reported the real estate fraud’s victims suffered a total of 250 billion KRW damages, and other outlets named Hallyu star SNSD’s Taeyeon as one of them.

SM Entertainment, SNSD's agency, first responded to the reports, stating they can’t divulge any details about their artist’s assets. The idol then responded personally and asked fans not to jump to conclusions as she didn’t indulge in “speculative buying.” In the real estate world, "speculative buying" refers to people investing in property that is expected or speculated to increase massively in value in the future.

As her intentions were being painted negatively, she believed it was time for her to clear things out herself. In an Instagram story, she said,

“I’m writing this because it appears that my objective is being painted in a way that’s different from what I intended. Please refrain from misunderstandings, guesses, and speculation. I was unilaterally informed about the damage, so I am waiting for the situation to play out for now."

Here's more on what Taeyeon had to say about her real estate decision.

---

SNSD’s Taeyeon responds personally to being a victim of a real estate scam, explaining her side of the story

The Weekend singer, SNSD's Taeyeon, was named as one of the victims of a real estate investment company’s scam. The company had reportedly deceived close to 3,000 people with false information, tricking them into believing it was developable land, when in reality, the property fell under the Forest Protection Act.

Another news outlet then revealed that SNSD’s Taeyeon was one of the victims who bought property from the company.

As negative publicity around the idol started forming, she took to Instagram to explain her stance. She revealed that she always desired to have her family stay close to her, and it was this desire that made her buy the property.

“I’ve lived away from my family since I was young, so my wish for the rest of my life was to find a home for my family that’s closer to the area where I work and live, and my dream was to create a spot just for my family. With consent from my family, my parents took a look at the place with their own eyes and made the decision with the same dream I have.”

She added that it “upsets” her to speak about the matter, but it is only to ask people “to refrain from jumping to any more conclusions.” She even added a little note on the side saying,

“I’m not crazy enough to do speculative buying.”

Taeyeon's Instagram story (Screenshot via allkpop)

Meanwhile, comedienne Ahn Soo Mi was revealed to be the salesperson of the real estate company. She later denied the claims in a phone call with K-media outlet OSEN. She stated that she worked in the real estate industry as a freelancer but has never met SNSD's Taeyeon or sold people anything related to the scam.