Seungri officially sentenced to 1.5 years in prison… The Burning Sun scandal finally ended after 2 years and 4 months
Seungri, a former member of boy group BIG BANG, has been officially sent to prison.
Seungri, who used to enjoy splendid times as a member of a famous idol group, will now spend a shameful time in jail. This is the final ruling for Seungri 2 years and 4 months since he was indicted.
On May 26th, the Supreme Court of South Korea held the final appeal trial for Seung-ri’s case and sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months in prison. Seungri was sent to trial on a total of 9 charges. First of all, he was accused of sex arrangements for investors to attract investments in clubs and financial contracts as well as prostitution in 2015.
Seungri was accused of embezzling 528 million won from “Burning Sun” to run “Monkey Museum”, his own club in Gangnam, and stealing 22 million won from Yuri Holdings to pay for his employees’ legal fees.
In addition, Seungri was charged for spending 2.2 billion won on gambling and for not reporting that he loaned 1 million dollars worth of chips for gambling at hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. He was also involved in allegations of quarreling with consumers at a bar in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and mobilizing gangsters to threaten them in 2015.
The final sentence for Seungri is 1.5 years in prison. The prosecution demanded a 3-year prison sentence for Seungri in the first trial but it was then reduced by half in the second trial by the Supreme Court. Many people expressed frustration that Seungri’s sentence might be too light compared to the seriousness of his crimes. Eventually, Seungri faces a prison sentence and this ruling means a lot.
In 2019, when the Burning Sun scandal broke out, Seungri denied all charges. Despite being at the center of the controversy, he consistently had an upright attitude. He may have been overconfident because of his close ties with some police officers. He also tried to escape the public eye by using the enlistment card.
Seungri played a huge role in shedding light on the dark corners of Korea’s entertainment industry. During the investigation of the Burning Sun case, the crimes committed by people around him were unveiled.
Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon were sentenced to prison for gang-raping and illegally filming/distributing hidden camera footage of women in a Kakao Talk chat room that included Seungri. In late 2021, Choi Jong-hoon was released from prison, and Jung Joon-young is expected to be released in October 2025.
The corruption of Yang Hyun-suk, former CEO of YG Entertainment, was also exposed to the world. Allegations of YG dodging tax and providing sexual services for foreign investors surfaced. Yang Hyun-suk was indicted on charges of overseas expedition gambling and being involved in the illegal drug scandal of former iKON’s B.I. Yang Hyun-suk is currently standing in court after stepping down from his position as YG’s CEO.
It took two years and four months for Seungri to be put in jail. Seungri will be spending time in a civilian prison starting from June 26th. He will get to look back on his life from behind bars.
Source: Daum
