Former BIGBANG star Seungri shocked the K-pop world last year when he was accused of “supplying prostitutes” to VIP customers at a night club in Seoul, together with his business partner Yoo In-suk. He was then forwarded to the prosecution for seven criminal charges
Seungri’s controversy led him to leave BIGBANG and YG Entertainment. The troubled star was previously charged with solicitation of prostitution and prostitution mediation, occupational embezzlement of Burning Sun funds, occupational embezzlement of attorney’s fees, instigating destruction of evidence, violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes, and violation of the Food Sanitation Act.
However, Seungri denied most of these charges except for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The former BIGBANG star attended his first trial on Sept. 16 at the General Military Court in Yongin city over a year after the scandal broke.
Seungri is currently completing his military service, so his trial took place outside of the usual courts in Seoul. The former idol’s lawyer claimed that Seungri admits to gambling, but not habitually. Regarding the filming and photography charges, he claimed that they were taken and shared for promotional purposes.
For the charges against food sanitation, Seungri claimed that his manager Mr. Lee was in charge of running the Monkey Museum. As for the embezzlement charges, the former BIGBANG star claimed that a portion of the funds had been reclaimed from Mr. Lee and Mr. Hong.
Seungri also completely denied that he was ever involved in prostitution mediation. His lawyers claimed that Seungri was not involved in Yoo In Suk‘s actions and had not participated in any sexual acts. Yoo In Suk previously admitted to charges of embezzlement and prostitution back in July.
Meanwhile, BIGBANG had always been known as a five-member group. The legendary K-pop band is consists of G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri. Although the members sometimes release albums as solo artists or duos, they would always go back as a group.
That said, VIPs are still hoping that Seungri would join the other BIGBANG members after his military service. However, Seungri noted that he wanted to steer clear from the industry while he is still dealing with the scandal.
For now, Seungri is certainly thinking about these charges, and returning to K-pop hasn’t probably crossed his mind at all. Also, he loves and respects his former BIGBANG members, so he wouldn’t do anything to drag them to his controversy.
