KBS News reports that Seungri admitted to prior knowledge of Monkey Museum’s illegal operations during his fourth round of questioning by the police.

On March 21, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Provincial Special Detective Division booked Seungri on charges of violating the Food Sanitation Act and privately summoned him for questioning on the illegal operations of the club Monkey Museum. Seungri established the club in 2016 in partnership with former Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In Suk.

The club was first registered as a general restaurant instead of an entertainment bar when it opened. According to Article 21 in the Enforcement Decree of Food Sanitation Law, a “general restaurant” is a “business of cooking and selling food, where drinking accompanied with meals is allowed.”

In comparison, an “entertainment bar” is “business of cooking and selling mainly alcoholic beverages, where workers engaged in entertainment may be employed or entertainment facilities may be established, and customers may sing or dance.” There are suspicions that the club was registered as a general restaurant in order to pay lower taxes.

Earlier this week, SBS’s “8 O’Clock News” reported on the suspicions of illegal business practices carried out at Monkey Museum and included chatroom messages that showed Seungri was aware that the club’s registration was illegal but said they could bribe the police if there was a crackdown. The police are carrying out an investigation to determine if there is evidence that connections to high-rank police officers allowed the club to bypass a major crackdown.

KBS reports that during questioning, Seungri stated that he was aware beforehand that registering the club as a “general restaurant” when it opened could become a legal issue.

It has been reported that Seungri stated that when they were opening the club, they followed the example of other surrounding clubs that had registered as other types of businesses such as a “general restaurant” or “photography studio.” After this was discovered in a crackdown, it was corrected.

The police say it appears that Seungri and Yoo In Suk conducted irregular business practices, such as installing a separate stage in Monkey Museum and making it so that people could dance.

After reports from surrounding businesses around the time when the club opened in 2016, Seoul Gangnam Police Station booked the person in charge of business at Monkey Museum on charges of violation of the Food Sanitation Act. The club also had to pay a fine of 40 million won (approximately $35,420) for business violations.

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Seungri has been called for his fourth round of questioning by the police.

On March 21, news outlet Chosun Ilbo reported that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Provincial Special Detective Divison booked Seungri for charges of violating the Food Sanitation Act and that he was privately summoned for questioning.

Seungri is being questioned for engaging in illegal operations of Monkey Museum, which was a club he established in 2016 in partnership with the former Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In Suk. When the club first opened, it was registered as a general restaurant instead of an entertainment bar.

According to Article 21 in the Enforcement Decree of Food Sanitation Law, a general restaurant business is described as a “business of cooking and selling food, where drinking accompanied with meals is allowed.” The document also describes an entertainment bar as a “business of cooking and selling mainly alcoholic beverages, where workers engaged in entertainment may be employed or entertainment facilities may be established, and customers may sing or dance.” It is suspected that the club was registered as a general restaurant instead of an entertainment bar in order for the business to have a lower tax rate.

On March 19, SBS’s “8 O’Clock News” shed light on suspicions about illegal business practices of Monkey Museum, and the outlet argued that despite the illegal operations, the club still managed to bypass the crackdown of the district office. The police are now investigating whether there is evidence of connections to high-rank police officers being used to cover up the criminal activities.

This is the fourth time Seungri has attended a police station for questioning. The first round of questioning took place on February 27 for allegations of providing prostitute services for foreign investors, and the second round took place on March 14 in relation to the same allegations. The singer was also privately summoned for a third round of questioning following reports of the police receiving a testimony from a source at the club Burning Sun that stated that Seungri took drugs.

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