It has been reported that a man was arrested over suspicions of stealing the personal information of several celebrities so that it could be sent to the leader of “Nth room” chat groups Jo Ju Bin.

On April 13, MBC’s “Newsdesk” reported on the arrest of a 26-year old identified as “Choi” who served as a public service worker for the Civil Complaint Administration Team of a community center located in the district of Songpa in Seoul. Choi has been arrested on suspicions of stealing the personal information of 17 people from the community center’s system from March to June last year and giving it to “Nth room” administrator Jo Ju Bin.

MBC reports that the personal information included their resident registration numbers, home addresses, and phone numbers.

According to the police investigation reports acquired by MBC, this included four members of a popular and currently active girl group. It’s described that last March, Choi accessed administrative systems and sent the personal information that came up on the system to Jo Ju Bin. He also sent the personal information of two of the members’ fathers.

Around the same time, he also sent the personal information of a famous celebrity in her 20s who is currently active as an actress and came from another girl group. MBC reports that this actress’s information was viewed three times.

As Choi did not have the ability to access this personal information, a former civil servant at the Songpa District Office has also been booked and is under investigation for suspicions of dereliction of duty for lending their ID to Choi so he could access the system.

It’s reported that Choi said during questioning that he viewed the personal information because he likes those girl group members.

A source from the police stated, “We have not yet found that the girl group members were the victims of any additional crimes beyond the leaking of their personal information.”

However, MBC states that the police are paying attention to the fact that Choi also sent Jo Ju Bin the personal information of JTBC president Sohn Suk Hee and former Gwangju mayor Yoon Jang Hyeon and it was used to extort money from them. An investigation is therefore ongoing to see if Jo Ju Bin’s group used the girl group members’ information to attempt fraud or make threats.

In an additional report, MBC stated that in March 2019, Choi also viewed the resident registration certificate of a famous actress in her 20s. This record shows a person’s exact address and their history of moving homes, as well as the personal information of family members that they live with.

Police also found out that he accessed the resident registration certificates of a female TV announcer and an underage female actress. This also included their family’s personal information. All of this information that was illegally acquired by Choi was sent to Jo Ju Bin.

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