User:LadyCiaoCiao/sandbox

Allegations and departure from YG
In 2019, a number of allegations related to club Burning Sun, a nightclub founded in 2018 and managed by two CEOs; Lee Moon-ho and Lee Seong-hyun surrounded the singer Seungri due to his affiliation with the business as a creative director/shareholder and occasional DJ. The allegations included drug use and arranging sexual favors for investors, among others. Media also shared KakaoTalk conversations with messages allegedly shared between the singer and Burning Sun employees about such arrangements in relation to the prostitution allegation, but during a press conference on March 4 the Police revealed that the original, unedited KakaoTalk messages were not submitted. However, Seungri denied the allegations and journalists later admitted that they manipulated some of the chats, presenting some private conversations as part of group chats. On March 10, Seungri underwent a second round of drug analysis; hair and urine samples were tested, and the results were negative.

On March 11 2019, Seungri announced on his Instagram account his retirement from the entertainment industry, stating that the criticism and hate he received in the past month had driven him to this move in order to protect Big Bang and YG Entertainment. He also stated that he would fully cooperate with the investigation. This led to the consensual termination of his contract with his agency YG Entertainment on March 13.

Arrest warrants
On April 1, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency reported that Seungri and his business partner Yoo In-seok (co-CEO of Yuri Holdings) embezzled funds from Yuri Holdings for business purposes. The amount was reported to be about tens of millions of won (10M KRW ≈ US$8400). On April 25, Seungri denied the prostitution charges related to a 2015 Christmas party, while Yoo In-seok admitted that he called and paid for entertainers for Japanese investors. The hotel bill was reportedly paid using a YG Entertainment corporate card, however Seungri denied knowing about the occurrence of prostitution.

On May 8, after a total of 17 closed-door police interrogations, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency requested an arrest warrant for Seungri over the following charges: Prostitution Mediation, Embezzlement of Burning Sun funds (according to the police, Seungri directly intervened in the misappropriation of about 200M Won from Burning Sun as brand fee for Monkey Museum), and Violation of the Food Sanitation Act (related to Monkey Museum wrongfully registering business). On May 14, Seoul District Court rejected the arrest warrant saying that embezzlement, a major charge, was open to dispute, and that it was difficult to certify the reasons for detention have been meet, such as the destruction of evidence, for the remaining suspicions which included prostitution mediation. In addition, the court's reason for rejection included prosecution's inability to show the existence and scope of criminal liability of Seungri. On May 15, Police stated that it would be difficult to reapply for arrest warrant, and they would finalize the investigation prior to Seungri's military enlistment date.

However, on June 25, the police stated that his case has been forwarded to prosecution with seven charges: procuring sex service, prostitution mediation, embezzlement of business funds for hiring a legal representative, embezzlement of club Burning Sun revenues, attempt at destruction of evidence, distribution of illegally-filmed content via social platforms, and violation of the Food Sanitation Act. On August 28, 2019, Seungri was questioned in connection with illegal gambling. On January 10, 2020, the prosecution announced they had requested a second arrest warrant for Seungri on seven charges. The arrest warrant was again denied, with the court saying that detention didn't seem necessary considering his attitude towards the investigation and not meeting reasons for detention.

Trial
Seungri enlisted in the military on March 9, 2020 and his case was transferred to the military court. His trial started on September 16th, consisting in eight charges. Seungri denied all charges except one, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, for which he stated he was deeply reflecting on his mistake.

Regarding the allegations related to prostitution (prostitution mediation and prostitution for self), Seungri's lawyer stated that Seungri had no reason to mediate prostitution and that he didn't remember having a sexual intercourse with the woman in question, who he thought was just a person who wanted to meet him. During the trial, the witnesses confirmed that it was Yoo In-Seok who ordered prostitution, not Seungri.

Regarding the charge of distributing obscene material, Seungri's Defense stated that he only shared with friends a photo that wasn't taken by him, but was sent to him from an entertainment bar.

For the charge of habitual gambling, Seungri's lawyer answered that Seungri didn't gamble as a habit, and that he visited the USA for work and not purposely for gambling. Habitual gambling is illegal but not gambling for momentary pleasure.

The charge of embezzelment is divided in two different charges, for which Seungri's side declared that Seungri had no motive or intent to commit embezzlement. Seungri's charges also include Violation of Food Sanitation Act (for inappropriately declaring Monkey Museum as a restaurant instead of an entertainment establishment).

On January 14 the Prosecution added against Seungri the charge of eliciting violence. In 2015, a drunk customer in a bar entered into the private room of Seungri and his acquaintances: the Prosecution claimed that after an argument, Seungri called Yoo In-Seok who involved gang members into the argument to threaten the man. The Prosecution claimed Seungri conspired with Yoo thus charging him as instigating co-conspirator. However, Seungri claimed that he didnt't have anything to do with the gangsters, and during the 15th hearing one of the alleged victims said that he didn't feel threatened at the time, while the other one stated that he didn't know at all that Seungri could be related to the accident.

The trial also encountered an issue related to confirmation bias: on March 25, 2021, after the 13th hearing for Seungri's trial, a witness claimed that the police had wrote up a statement against Seungri that she actually never made. Other Prosecution's witnesses also claimed that the investigators put pressure on them in giving false testimonies, probably due to the pressure from media and public to find Seungri guilty. Many of the witnesses also claimed that the Prosecution slightly changed their answers or seemed to have designed questioning with the target of necessarily arriving at Seungri's name.