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| Girls' Generation's Tiffany has released an official statement on her father's recent fraud controversy. Courtesy of Tiffany Young official website |
By Lee Min-young
Girls' Generation member Tiffany has come forward to talk about fraud allegations surrounding her father.
Tiffany made a statement through her agency Transparent Artist on Wednesday, apologizing on her father's behalf. "I would like to sincerely apologize to those deeply wounded by my father's wrongdoings," she wrote.
She also talked about the hardships she had endured because of her father and how that severed father-daughter relations.
Tiffany said creditors had threatened her and this continued after her debut. She was sometimes coerced into paying off her father's debts and she did settle many of them.
"I was always scared that my family affairs would end up hurting my group members and people close to me," Tiffany said.
Threatening calls continued to the point that she had to cut ties with her father and live away from him. She said she has been out of contact with her father for about seven years.
Earlier Tuesday, a man posted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, claiming Tiffany's father deceived him into handing over millions of won in investments when the father was running a company in the Philippines. He said the father even claimed ties to Korean gangsters and threatened him with a gun, which made him give up seeking his money back.
Tiffany, who debuted with Girls' Generation in 2007, is continuing her singing career in the U.S. under the stage name Tiffany Young. She left SM Entertainment as her contract with the agency expired.
