Police Ban Seungri From Leaving The Country Due To Investigation

The police have prohibited BIGBANG’s Seungri from leaving the country after booking him for allegedly providing sexual escort services for foreign investors.

On March 11, The Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency banned Seungri from leaving the country after booking him, meaning that his status was changed from that of a target of investigation (the stage before someone becomes a suspect in Korean criminal law) to that of a suspect.

Because Seungri will be enlisting in the army on March 25, the police is planning to speed up the investigation.

All of this begins with SBS funE’s report on February 26, where they released text messages that were allegedly shared between Seungri, CEO Yoo of Yuri Holdings, and an employee in 2015. The contents of the messages implied that they were hiring prostitutes at Club Arena (a club located in the Gangnam district) for foreign business investors, and both YG and Yuri Holdings denied the claims in separate statements. One day later, Seungri underwent questioning at the police station and shared his willingness to cooperate with any further questioning.

On March 10, the police searched Club Arena, and later in the day, Seungri, along with three to four other people in the KakaoTalk group chat, were booked for aiding in providing sexual escort services.

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