TOKYO (TR) – Upon the arrest of the husband of popular model Angelica Michibata on suspicion of extortion last week, news reports painted only a vague picture of what transpired.
On August 7, Michibata’s husband, Kim Jung-hee, a 37-year-old Korean national, entered the office of a male corporate officer, aged in his 40s, in Shibuya Ward and demanded payment of 350,000 yen.
“I will mess up your family,” Kim reportedly said without an explaining why. “If you lie, I’ll pierce your eyes with a pencil.”
The suspect denied the allegations upon his arrest on October 3. “I had no intention of making threats,” the suspect was quoted by police. “I was just collecting a bill.”
Now, evening tabloid Tokyo Sports (Oct. 8) has the rest of the story: A secretly filmed video shows the corporate officer, who is married, in the company of Michibata, a development that could pose a problem for the model.
Daikanyama bar
Kim manages the members-only bar Under Bar, located near Daikanyama Station in Meguro Ward. The victim is an acquaintance of Michibata.
The video, shot in a private room at the bar, shows Michibata and the officer clinging closely to one another as they sip alcohol.
“Normally, a security camera is installed at the entrance to prevent suspicious persons from entering, but this time it is a private room,” an investigative source tells Sports Nippon (Oct. 9). “It is an unusual case.”
During the alleged extortion, Michibata was present at the office. Police later revealed that an examination of security camera footage taken in the office showed Kim in a conference room making the threats.
A person with knowledge of the entertainment industry and this particular case tells Tokyo Sports, “[The corporate officer] is making the claim that the hidden camera was set in the private room in advance in order to entrap him.”
“This is a typical honey trap,” an investigator tells the paper. “The future focus [of the investigation] will be about whether Michibata knew [about the camera] in advance.”
Apology
On October 5, Michibata issued an apology. “I am truly sorry,” she wrote on the web site of her agency.
About her presence at the office during the alleged extortion, Michibata wrote, “My husband got suspicious after I was seen drinking with a male acquaintance with our bodies close together,” she wrote on the web site of her agency. “The result was my husband blaming [the acquaintance].”
Michibata also said that she “was confused at the time” and “didn’t know” her husband demanded money.