Ex K-pop star penalized to three years in jail over prostitution, fraud

The 30-year-old singer from popular boyband BIGBANG, who retired from show business as the scandal mounted and later enlisted in the military was found guilty on all nine counts against him, a defence ministry official told an International News Agency.

He was taken into custody after the ruling by an army court near Seoul.

The Defense Ministry said he was also fined $989,000.

Seungri, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, was indicted in January 2020 on multiple charges, including arranging illegal sexual services for business investors from Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong. 

According to the charges he arranged prostitutes for foreign investors on 24 occasions over five months from September 2015.

"It is hard to see the defendant was not aware of financial payments paid to the women for sex," media reports quoted judge as saying.

"It appears that he carried out systematic sexual prostitution."

Seungri had changed his testimony under police questioning and in court, he added, and "lacked credibility".

He was also convicted of embezzling funds from a Seoul nightclub he ran and violating laws prohibiting overseas gambling by betting heavily at foreign casinos from 2013 to 2017. 

He denied most of the charges.

His illegal gambling was found to be "serious" given his status as a celebrity and it went on over a long period.