Lee A-reum, a former member of the girl group T-Ara, and her boyfriend were indicted without detention for allegedly failing to pay back the money they borrowed from people, including fans, reports said Tuesday.

According to the Suwon District Court, Lee and her boyfriend borrowed 37 million won ($25,679) from three of their acquaintances, including Lee's fans, citing "personal reasons." The three victims lodged complaints repeatedly from March to May last year.


Prosecutors took Lee’s boyfriend into custody for allegedly masterminding the crime.

In a separate development, Lee was sentenced to eight months in prison with two years of probation, reports said on Friday.

Lee's ex-husband filed a complaint against Lee and her mother in February on charges of child abuse, child neglect and exploitation of minors. Lee's ex-spouse accused her of emotionally abusing children by swearing at him in front of them. Lee admitted to all the accusations.

The court also sentenced Lee's mother to four months in prison with one year of probation.

Lee joined T-Ara in 2012 and left the group the following year. T-Ara is known for songs like “Roly-Poly” (2011), “TTL” (2009) and “Bo Peep Bo Peep” (2009).

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]