'Procuring Prostitution and Habitual Gambling' Big Bang's Seungri Supreme Court Verdict Today... Dispute Over Seizure of Casino Chips Loaned Amount

1st Trial: 3 Years Imprisonment → 2nd Trial: 1 Year 6 Months Imprisonment
Supreme Court Only Contested Habitual Gambling and Foreign Exchange Transactions Act Violations

Singer Seungri, formerly of the group 'Big Bang'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Supreme Court's ruling on Seungri (real name Lee Seung-hyun, 32), a former member of the group 'Big Bang' who was indicted on charges including prostitution mediation and habitual gambling, will be announced on the 26th.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) will hold a hearing on the appeal case against Seungri, who was indicted on nine charges including habitual gambling, violation of the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Arranging Sexual Traffic (prostitution and mediation of prostitution, filming using cameras, etc.), embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, incitement to special assault, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, violation of the Food Sanitation Act, and embezzlement in the course of business.

Seungri is accused of arranging prostitution several times for investors from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and other places from December 2015 to January of the following year to attract investment in clubs and financial investment businesses, and also of purchasing prostitution himself. He is also accused of posting nude photos in a KakaoTalk chatroom with singer Jung Joon-young and others.

Additionally, he is charged with violating the Food Sanitation Act by operating an unlicensed entertainment bar and embezzling about 528 million KRW from the club 'Burning Sun' under the pretext of brand usage fees for the Gangnam bar 'Monkey Museum.' He is also accused of embezzling about 20 million KRW from Yuri Holdings' company funds under the pretext of personal attorney fees for employees.

He is accused of gambling about 2.2 billion KRW at hotel casinos in Las Vegas, USA, from 2013 to 2017, lending chips worth approximately 1 million USD as gambling funds without any report, and inciting former Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In-seok to mobilize gangsters to assault another customer after a dispute while drinking with acquaintances at a bar in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, at the end of December 2015.

This case became publicly known in November 2018 as the so-called 'Burning Sun Gate.'

Seungri was indicted in January 2020 but enlisted in the 5th Artillery Brigade about a month later.

The Ordinary Military Court of the Ground Operations Command, which took over the case, recognized Seungri's guilt in August last year, sentenced him to three years in prison, and ordered his detention in court.

He was also ordered to pay a fine of about 1.15 billion KRW related to borrowing chips worth 1 million USD (approximately 1.1795 billion KRW) at a hotel casino in Las Vegas, USA, which was his credit amount. According to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, transactions exceeding 1 billion KRW must be reported to the Minister of Strategy and Finance.

Seungri was originally scheduled to be discharged as a sergeant in September last year after the first trial verdict, but his discharge was postponed under the Military Service Act, so he continued to undergo appeal (second trial) and final appeal (third trial) trials as a soldier.

The High Military Court of the second trial upheld the guilty verdict like the first trial but accepted Seungri's claim that the punishment was too heavy and reduced the sentence to one year and six months in prison.

It also ruled that chips used in casinos are not foreign payment instruments subject to reporting under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, so they cannot be subject to confiscation or fines, and found the first trial court's order to confiscate about 1.15 billion KRW to be incorrect.

Seungri's side, which contested all charges up to the second trial, appealed to the Supreme Court requesting a retrial only on the habitual gambling charge. The prosecution also appealed against the second trial's ruling on the confiscation order.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court will deliver a judgment on the habitual gambling and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act charges on this day. The key issues are whether Seungri's habitual gambling is recognized, establishing habitual gambling rather than simple gambling, and whether the chips borrowed from the casino are subject to confiscation.

If the Supreme Court upholds the original sentence of one year and six months in prison for Seungri, who is currently detained at the Military Prison, he will be transferred to a civilian prison as a wartime labor service member. The Enforcement Decree of the Military Service Act stipulates that a person sentenced to imprisonment or detention for one year and six months or more shall be assigned to wartime labor service. In this case, Seungri will remain incarcerated until February 2023.