Former South Korean Ok-pop star generally known as Seungri was sentenced to a few years in jail and fined almost $1 million on Thursday after a courtroom convicted him of crimes together with procuring prostitutes for potential traders, native media reported.
The trial of Seungri, whose actual title is Lee Seung-hyun, is a part of a far-reaching scandal involving a community of pop stars, businessmen and cops alleged to have colluded and enabled tax evasion, bribery, and prostitution at among the glitziest golf equipment in Seoul’s swanky Gangnam district.
Lee, 30, a former member of hit group BIGBANG, was known as up for obligatory navy service shortly after his indictment, prompting his trial to be transferred to a navy courtroom.
The courtroom discovered Lee responsible of 9 costs, together with embezzling funds from the nightclubs, abroad playing, and procuring prostitutes for international traders in his enterprise, Yonhap reported. South Korean residents are banned by regulation from playing at casinos even when travelling overseas.
Lee, who appeared in uniform on the navy courtroom in Yongin, south of Seoul, shook his head as he listened to the sentence, which additionally included an order for him to pay a wonderful value 1.15 billion received ($990,000).
Reuters makes an attempt to achieve the navy courtroom and Lee’s lawyer for remark weren’t instantly profitable. Lee denied many of the costs.
The scandal, which was centred round a number of nightclubs that Lee was concerned in, additionally swept up different Ok-pop stars, together with Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon, who in 2019 had been sentenced to 6 and 5 years in jail, respectively, after they had been convicted of gang-raping a lady.
Jung was additionally discovered responsible of filming the assault and distributing the footage, which got here to mild when police had been investigating Lee. Sentences for each Jung and Choi had been later lowered.
YG Leisure Inc, the company that had represented Lee till he was compelled to stop the leisure business after the allegations surfaced in March 2019, was not instantly obtainable for touch upon the ruling.
Lee made his official debut in August 2006 together with BIGBANG’s 4 different members: G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang and Daesung. They aren’t implicated within the scandal.
BIGBANG remains to be wildly widespread regardless of the 4 remaining members taking breaks for his or her navy service, which all accomplished in 2019. A comeback reunion was deliberate for the Coachella music competition final yr, however the occasion was cancelled because of the pandemic.
