The Supreme Court’s ruling on Seungri to be made today… The second trial’s judgment was 1 year and 6 months imprisonment
The Supreme Court’s ruling on former BIGBANG member Seungri (real name Lee Seung-hyun, 32 years old), who was indicted on charges of arranging prostitution to foreign investors and gambling abroad, will be made on May 26th.
On this day, the Supreme Court’s first division (chief umpire Roh Tae-ak) will judge guilt or innocence of Seungri, who is accused of habitual gambling, sexual violence crimes (prostitution, prostitution mediation, using camera, etc. to record), violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes…
A total of 9 charges were applied to Seungri, and all were found guilty until the second trial. From December 2015 to January of the following year, Seungri was indicted for arranging prostitution several times to investors from Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong to attract investment for clubs and financial investment businesses. He was also charged with purchasing sex by himself.
Seungri was accused of embezzling 528 million won from the fund of the “Burning Sun” club in the name of trademark royalties for “Monkey Museum”, a pub in Gangnam, Seoul. He was also prosecuted for stealing 20 million won from Yuri Holdings in the name of employees’ personal lawyer fees.
Seungri visited the U.S. once or twice a year for performances in Las Vegas. He was charged with spending a considerable amount of 2.2 billion won gambling at hotels and casinos as well as borrowing 1 million dollars worth of chips from 2013 to 2017. He was also accused of calling a gang to retaliate against the citizen who got into a dispute at a drinking party held in December 2015.
This incident became known to the public as the so-called “Burning Sun gate” in November 2018. Seungri was indicted in January 2020 and enlisted in the 5th Artillery Brigade about a month later.
In August last year, the Yongin Ground Operations Command Common Military Court (prime judge Hwang Min-je) sentenced Seungri to 3 years in prison. In addition, Seungri was ordered to pay an additional fine of 1.15 billion won.
Seungri, who objected to the first trial’s ruling, appealed in October last year, and the military prosecution also submitted a letter of appeal. Initially, Seungri was soon to be discharged in September last year, but after the appeal, he was suspended from discharge according to the Military Service Act.
The second trial court sentenced Seungri to 1 year and 6 months in prison, unlike the first trial’s ruling, considering that he admitted all charges and reflected on himself. Seungri argued for all 9 charges until the second trial, but as he continued to be found guilty, he requested the Supreme Court to review only habitual gambling, and the prosecution appealed, saying that the amount of casino chips should be additionally collected. Accordingly, the Supreme Court heard only habitual gambling and violation of the Foreign Exchange Act, leaving the remaining charges confirmed as guilty, including violation of sexual violence crimes.
If the Supreme Court confirms the original judgment, Seungri, who is still imprisoned in a military prison, will be transferred to a private prison after being incorporated into a wartime labor force. This is because according to the Enforcement Decree of the Military Service Act, those sentenced to imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor for more than 1 year and 6 months are transferred to wartime service. In this case, Seungri will be imprisoned until February 2023.
If the Supreme Court overturns the original judgment, the High Military Court must return the case and hold a trial again.
Source: dispatch
