Seungri is facing more controversies as he allegedly embezzled funds from Yuri Holdings and Burning Sun. The Big Bang member denied the accusations and is now being investigated once again in addition to his other charges.
Seungri allegedly used Yuri Holdings funds to pay for the defense of a DJ accused of sexual assault. "I paid for the legal fees because it could have affected the club's image," he said, via Soompi.
Police are now investigating if Seungri indeed committed fraud to pay for the DJ's legal representative. On News A April 14 broadcast on Channel A, it was revealed the 28-year-old singer took 10 million won (about $8,800) from Yuri Holdings for the alleged "lawyer fees" of a staff member, who was under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman inside a club when he got drunk.
Seungri founded Yuri Holdings, along with Yoo In Suk, in 2016. They were operating several businesses in the food and entertainment fields, including the now-controversial Burning Sun. The two were currently booked on the "charge of occupation embezzlement" for misusing funds from Monkey Museum.
Also, Seungri is also suspected of paying his manager using funds from Burning Sun, per AllKpop. On Newsdesk April 12 broadcast on MBC, police are investigating the questionable flow of money in the club's bank account.
They found over 30 million won (about $26,450) Burning Sun fund were regularly sent to Seungri's former manager, Mr. Ji, every month, although the latter was YG Entertainment's employee and not the club's. According to the police, it is another case of embezzlement.
YG Entertainment, on the other hand, learned about the misappropriate use of money after questioning Seungri following the broke out of the Burning Sun Gate scandal in February. After the company had confirmed that its former talent paid Mr. Ji with the club's funds, it quickly fired the manager.
If the police manage to prove that Seungri paid Mr. Ji using Burning Sun's funds, instead of his own or YG Entertainment's, he will be charged with embezzlement. In a statement, the agency confirmed it paid the former manager with its money and came clean that it knew nothing about the other activities.
YG Entertainment also said it had no connection with Seungri's business and had no idea Mr. Jo also worked at Yuri Holdings that he had received a salary from the company. "We ourselves became aware of these facts only recently after the controversy broke out," it said. "We terminated Seungri's exclusive contract and also terminated Mr. Ji's employment with our company."
