Big Bang Seungri sentenced three years in prison, fine 1.15bn won over prostitution and gambling scandal

Source: Unreservedmedia.com

Seungri, a former member of Big Bang, has been sentenced to three years in prison for 9 charges. On August 12, a military court in Yongin, south of Seoul, held a trial.

After a thorough investigation into his involvement in the Burning Sun nightclub incident in Seoul and an unlicensed adult entertainment establishment for two years, K-pop star Seungri, real name Lee Seung-hyun, was sentenced by a military court. He’s also being probed for embezzling funds from a company. However, Seungri denied any knowledge or involvement in the alleged goings-on.

The military court said: “The defendant [Seungri] arranged sexual favors for foreign investors on many occasions in collusion with his business partner Yoo In-suk and gained benefits as a result. His crime of commercializing sex and violating our traditional customs has caused no small harm to our society. ” According to a South Korean media outlet,

The Defense Ministry said the former members of the boy band Big Bang also have to pay a fine of 1.15bn won (£6,82,259), or approximately over $988K US dollars. He will be marked in the national registry for regulating the Act.

On Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes.

Seungri also disputed charges that from December 2015 to January 2016, he procured prostitutes for investors from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and other countries in order to secure funding for his nightclub and other companies.

“Although the defendant has benefited greatly from these crimes, he is passing the blame onto others without reflecting on his actions. The nature of the crimes is not good, and severe punishment is needed, “the military prosecution stated.

The K-pop star was also accused of stealing approximately 528 million won (£327,000) from his club’s assets and gambling in Las Vegas on a regular basis from December 2013 to August 2017, with a total bet of nearly 2.2 billion won (£1.3 million) at stake.

The group earned $44 million in pretax earnings the previous year, according to Forbes magazine in 2016. After the allegations of prostitution were made public, Seungri departed the group in 2019. Seungri’s case is one of a slew of recent controversies in South Korea’s entertainment industry.