Members of girl group T-ara publicly denied media reports that a Chinese business mogul gave them luxury cars and paid a huge sum of money to the group’s former agency MBK Entertainment to sign the group onto his own media firm.

In an Instagram post late Monday, the group said it contacted Banana Culture founder Wang Sicong, who confirmed that such reports were false. 

A Korean news outlet reported earlier that Wang -- reportedly an avid fan of the group -- paid T-ara’s former agency MBK Entertainment 9 billion won ($8.4 million) to represent the group during its Chinese promotions, and gave each member super cars.

“We received official word from Wang Sicong that such reports are false, and stand on no ground,” the group said.

Banana Culture also released a public statement to deny the report on the MBK deal.

The quartet of T-ara is currently embroiled in a dispute with MBK over rights to use its name. The company on Dec. 28 applied for a trademark for the “T-ara” brand, despite the group leaving the agency in the same month.

Regarding the quarrel, the group said it hopes for the situation to conclude in an amicable fashion and that the group can “meet the fans under the name ‘T-ara’” once again.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)