YG Side "Promoting with Product Sponsorships Received Domestically" Rebuttal
Yang Hyun-suk, the chief producer of YG Entertainment, has been indicted on charges of failing to pay taxes on luxury watches worth hundreds of millions of won that he received as gifts overseas in the past.
The Public and International Crime Investigation Division of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Yoon Guk-kwon) announced on the 13th that Yang Hyun-suk, chief producer of YG Entertainment, has been indicted without detention on charges of violating the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (customs duties).
Yang is accused of bringing two high-end Swiss luxury watches into the country from Singapore in 2014 without declaring them to customs. In 2017, the company involved was caught by Busan Customs for importing the watches without proper customs clearance procedures, during which it was revealed that Yang had brought in the watches in 2014 without declaration, leading to an investigation.
Yang claims that he received the watches as sponsorships from the watch company for promotional purposes and that they were exposed on broadcasts. YG released a statement on the same day saying, "We deeply regret the prosecution's hasty and excessive decision to indict just before the 10-year statute of limitations expires."
YG further stated, "At the time in 2017, Chief Yang Hyun-suk cooperated sincerely with the investigation and voluntarily submitted all sponsored watches to the investigative authorities, as he did not want to be involved in even minor issues as a public figure. During the investigation, the statements of the company representative frequently changed, and the prosecution indicted him by concluding that the sponsored items were imported into the country without customs declaration without properly investigating the witnesses."
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