TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Seungri indicted for allegedly procuring prostitutes for investors, overseas gambling
On Jan. 30, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office indicted, without detention, Seungri for allegedly gambling overseas and procuring prostitutes for investors.
Change Size
Former BIGBANG boyband member Seungri, real name Lee Seung-hyun, arrives for police questioning in Seoul on August 28, 2019. (AFP/Jung Yeon-je)
S
eungri was arguably the most high-profile artist ensnared in a K-pop scandal that erupted last year but was not hauled to court even as two lesser-known singers were charged and got jail sentences.
On Thursday (Jan. 30), however, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office indicted, without detention, the former BigBang singer for allegedly gambling overseas and procuring prostitutes for investors.
An indictment essentially means that the authorities have largely wrapped up investigations and taken a step closer to having a trial.
Seungri is accused of arranging for sex services for investors from Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong between December 2015 and January 2016, reported Korea Times.
Prosecutors believe that the singer gambled in Las Vegas with Yang Hyun-suk, founder and former chief of YG Entertainment, with their trips spanning more than three years from December 2013.
Read also: Arrest warrant sought for Seungri over procuring prostitutes, illegal gambling
Seungri, who left BigBang in March last year after Burning Sun - a nightclub which he was linked to - was probed over drug and sexual abuses, reportedly incurred gambling losses of more than US$1 million (S$1.36 million).
The indictment comes roughly two weeks after a Seoul court denied an arrest warrant for Seungri, 29, citing "room for dispute" and little concern that he could destroy evidence.
While Seungri has now been indicted, some netizens think that he is unlikely to be jailed if he is put on trial.
They feel that his alleged offences pale against those of two singers - Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon.
In November, Jung and Choi received six-year and five-year jail terms respectively for gang-raping, among other offences.
This article appeared on The Straits Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
