It’s official! Lee Seung Hyun, or better known as Seungri (승리) has been sentenced to 3 years in prison. The Former BIGBANG singer was convicted of mediating prostitution and other charges from his illegal gambling and drugs scandal.
The 30-year-old K-pop star was found guilty of all 9 charges against him. He has also been ordered to pay 1.15 billion Won (~RM4.18 million) in fines.
If you’re familiar with Seungri’s ‘Burning Sun’ scandal in 2019, he has been undergoing a series of investigations and trials for procurement and mediation of prostitution, embezzlement of business funds, attempted destruction of evidence, distribution of illegally filmed footage, illegally filming women, illegal gambling, and violating food sanitation laws.
According to South Korean media outlet Yonhap, the military court said: “The defendant [Seungri] arranged sexual favours for foreign investors on many occasions in collusion with his business partner Yoo In-suk and gained benefits as a result. His crime of commercialising sex and violating our traditional custom has caused no small harm to our society.”
In July, military court prosecutors had reportedly stated that Seungri “showed no remorse and shifted blame to other people despite enjoying large benefits from his crimes”. The court also stated, “As his testimonies were inconsistent and changed between the police investigation, prosecution investigation, and at court, his credibility is low.”
Seungri was initially scheduled to complete his military service in mid-September. However, he will now be discharged from the military due to his sentence.
Sources: Soompi, Strait Times.
