After the Internet clothing Web site - of which she is a co-proprietor - faked user reviews, Baek Ji Young has decided to step away from the online business.

IamYuri Mall announced on July 24th that Baek Ji Young has paid fines imposed by the Fair Trade Commission and will no longer be associated with the brand.

The company added that Baek, one of four owners, had no idea staff were told to make up user reviews “as the division of labor was distributed so that she was only responsible for modeling and styling of the outfits.”

Earlier in the month, the FTC imposed a total fine of 38 million won ($33,200) on six online shopping malls run by celebrities, including IamYuri Mall. The move came after the commission announced its plans for the second half of the year last week, saying that it aims to build a safer e-commerce environment for online consumers.

Almost 1,000 false reviews were found to have been posted on Baek’s clothing business since April 2011. The job of penning them was given to staff members who arrived late to work.


Source: Carla Sunwoo @ JoongAng Daily