K-pop boy group BIGBANG's former member SEUNGRI and former YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun Suk will be forwarded to prosecution on charges of habitual gambling.
According to Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on October 31, police will be forwarding both SEUNGRI and Yang Hyun Suk to prosecution on November 1 with recommendations for indictment on charges of habitual overseas gambling.
Police have estimated that Yang Hyun Suk used hundreds of millions of won for gambling, while SEUNGRI used over 1 billion won (approximately 860,000 dollars).
SEUNGRI was revealed to have gambled only at one hotel casino located in Las Vegas, the United States, while Yang Hyun Suk gambled at multiple hotels.
According to a police source, both SEUNGRI and Yang Hyun Suk made less than 10 gambling trips to Las Vegas for five years; traveling abroad one or two times a year.
SEUNGRI and Yang Hyun Suk were also suspected of using illegal foreign exchange methods so-called "hwanchigi", but they were forwarded with recommendations for non-indictment regarding the charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.
The source explained, "We checked financial accounts, currency exchange history, and corporate accounting data within the cases' five-year statute of limitations, but we were unable to find any violations of the Act."
(Credit= Yonhap News Agency)