New Chat Logs Suggest Seungri Engaged in Habitual Overseas Gambling

This can be punishable under Korean law.

According to additional chat logs obtained exclusively by Sisa Journal, BIGBANG‘s Seungri appears to have engaged in habitual overseas gambling.

These messages were shared between Seungri and CEO A, who appears to have been his business partner back in 2014, and Seungri told CEO A that he won 200 million won (~$175,000 US) at a casino in Las Vegas, L.A. and sent him a photo of the money.

Seungri: “I won 200 million won! You’ll hit it big too, CEO A!”

CEO A: “Okay. I just need to win enough to cover my travelling expenses. When are you leaving L.A.? Shanghai? Japan?”

Seungri: “Which hotel are you staying at? I’m going back to Korea tonight at 11 P.M. and then I’m going to straight to Japan.”

Seungri: (Photo of money)

– Chat log between Seungri and CEO A

CEO A: “Amazing. I’m at ARIA. How are you going to bring the money?”

Seungri: “Oh, I come here often, so I left it with the ‘save bank’. I decided to only use the money I win in Vegas. If you get bored, hop over to Cosmopolitan. I’ll introduce you to my host. They have great service, and they provide a lot of gambling benefits and discounts there.”

CEO A: “Oh, I see. Okay. Who should I ask for once I get there?”

– Chat log between Seungri and CEO A

A prosecution official shared that the “save bank” Seungri was referring to is like a trading market managed by the casino where many foreign gamblers keep their money, but that it violates the Foreign Exchange Control Law.

Due to Korea’s nationality principle, Koreans can still be punished for gambling in an overseas casino in spite of the fact that gambling may be legal in that country. The prosecution official added, “You have to know the detailed circumstances to know what kind of punishment he could receive. The amount of money gambled and frequency of visits have to be considered.

The official stated, “If you leave your money with the save bank and then want to receive the money in Korea, you have to use a broker and pay them a fee. Since this doesn’t technically count as bringing money into Korea, they can avoid being exposed by the financial authorities.

Source: Sisa Journal

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