Military Prosecutors Demand 5-Year Prison Sentence for Big Bang's Seungri on Charges Including Procuring Prostitutes

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]The military prosecution has requested a sentence of 5 years imprisonment and a fine of 20 million won for Seungri (real name Lee Seung-hyun, 31), a former member of the group Big Bang, who was indicted on charges including arranging prostitution for foreign investors to attract investment and overseas gambling involving around 2 billion won.

According to the military on the 2nd, at the conclusion trial held the previous day at the Ground Operations Command Ordinary Military Court in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province (presided over by Colonel Hwang Min-je), the military prosecution requested the court, stating, "The defendant is shifting responsibility onto others, and strict punishment is necessary for his distorted perception and attitude towards sex."

Seungri was indicted on charges of repeatedly arranging prostitution for investors from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and other countries from December 2015 to January of the following year to attract investment for clubs and financial investment businesses. He is also charged with personally purchasing sexual services during a similar period (violation of the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Arranging Sexual Traffic, etc.).

Additionally, he was indicted for embezzling about 528 million won from the club Burning Sun under the pretext of brand usage fees for the Gangnam bar 'Monkey Museum' (violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes), and embezzling 22 million won from Yuri Holdings company funds for employees' personal attorney fees (embezzlement in the course of business).

Furthermore, from December 2013 to August 2017, he is charged with habitual gambling, having gambled several times at hotel casinos in Las Vegas, USA, using approximately 2.2 billion won, and violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act by lending chips worth about 1 million dollars as gambling funds without any reporting.

Seungri's side has consistently denied the charges in court, stating, "The defendant had no motive to arrange prostitution. He did not participate in the prostitution arrangements by former Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In-seok," shifting responsibility to his business partner, former CEO Yoo.

They also denied the remaining charges including habitual gambling, arguing, "For habitual gambling charges to be recognized, not only the amount but also the frequency, duration, motive, and prior records must be considered. The defendant's visits to the US were not for gambling purposes, and he completed all scheduled activities during his stay."

However, they admitted to the charge of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.

Meanwhile, former CEO Yoo admitted all charges including arranging prostitution at the first trial related to this case held at the Seoul Central District Court in June last year. He was found guilty and sentenced to 1 year and 8 months imprisonment with 3 years probation in December of the same year, and the sentence was finalized after he withdrew his appeal.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.