On September 16, the Ground Operations Command’s general military court held Seungri’s first hearing.
Seungri’s side stated, “We deny all charges except his violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.”
Seungri has been indicted on eight charges including purchase of prostitution services, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (an additional charge for embezzlement of a sum exceeding a certain number), violation of the Food Sanitation Act, habitual gambling, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes. Seungri’s case was transferred to the military courts after his enlistment in March.
Seungri is suspected to have arranged prostitution services for foreign investors in order to procure investments for his businesses between December 2015 and January 2016. Around the same time, he also allegedly purchased prostitution services himself.
He was also indicted for suspicions of embezzling 528 million won (approximately $448,900) from club Burning Sun to use for his club Monkey Museum and siphoning Yuri Holdings funds worth 22 million won (approximately $18,700) by disguising it as the employees’ legal fees.
Seungri allegedly gambled on several occasions at casinos in Las Vegas between December 2013 and August 2017 and used a total of 2.2 billion won (approximately $1.87 million). He is suspected of exchanging $1 million for casino tokens and not reporting the exchange, which is a violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.
At court, Seungri’s legal representative stated, “The defendant (Seungri) has no motive to mediate prostitution. He did not play any role in Yoo In Suk’s prostitution mediation.” Former Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In Suk pleaded guilty to his charges including prostitution mediation in June. In regards to suspicions that Seungri purchased prostitution services for himself, they said, “Seungri does not remember if he had intercourse with the woman in question, and he thought the woman was someone Yoo In Suk had sent because she simply wanted to meet him.”
The legal representative added, “Habitual gambling can only be recognized after considering not only the amount of money gambled, but all aspects including the total number of times gambled, duration, motive, and previous conviction. Gambling was not the purpose of the defendant’s visit to the United States, and he carried out all of his scheduled activities during his stay.”
Regarding suspicions that he filmed and spread illegal footage, Seungri’s legal representative said, “He did not take the photos himself. He only shared photos that he received from an adult entertainment establishment in a group chat with his friends.”
Seungri personally spoke about his alleged violation of the Food Sanitation Act in relation to his operation of club Monkey Museum, saying, “After receiving the correction order, all of the problematic structures were taken out. I was mostly overseas due to my activities as a celebrity, so I could not confirm it with my own eyes.”
Seungri admitted to one charge, his violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and stated that he was reflecting on his wrongdoing.
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