We All Are One Festival’s CEO Arrested Over Fraud Accusations

The organizer of Jakarta‘s K-pop festival We All Are One is facing charges of fraud and violation of a residence permit over accusations of stealing ticket sale proceeds. The festival’s CEO, Park Jai Hyun, was arrested for fraud on November 23rd.

We All Are One festival was supposed to take over Jakarta with artists like BamBam, YOUNGJAE, OH MY GIRL, and NMIXX from November 10th to November 12th. 

The music event was postponed a week before its kick-off, with management stating that Itaewon’s tragic crowd surge raised “high concerns from the promoter and also the artists.” 

Ticket refunds were offered and the K-pop festival’s dates were moved to January. 

According to Detik, the arrest was made following a police report made by Depita Gultom, one of the event’s sponsors accusing We All Are One festival’s CEO of fraud.

Gultom had reportedly transferred more than IDR 340 million ($2,165) in funds to Couton Live, the company organizing the festival. 

Festival vendor PT Visi Musik Indonesia told Detik that while preparations for the festival were ongoing, Park “gave an order to withdraw part of the proceeds from the festival’s sales.”

The revenue was supposed to be used to make payments for the event. A spokesperson for the company said that when PT Visi Musik Indonesia attempted to collect payment for its services, they were “met with an unwelcome response by director Park and were not paid.” 

According to PT Visi Musik Indonesia’s director, the ticket sales “reached losses of approximately IDR 7 billion,” with almost half of the funds withdrawn by Park. 

In an official statement, Indonesia’s immigration authorities stated that besides fraud allegations, Park faces charges for violation of a resident permit, as he entered the country using a tourist visa instead of a work permit. Four other members of the We All Are One festival’s organizing team have also been arrested.