Former K-pop singer jailed for three years over prostitution, fraud scandal

FILE PHOTO: Seungri, a member of South Korean K-pop band Big Bang, arrives to be questioned over a sex bribery case at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seoul, South Korea, March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL (Reuters) - Former South Korean K-pop star known as Seungri was sentenced to three years in prison and fined nearly $1 million on Thursday after a court convicted him of crimes including procuring prostitutes for potential investors, local media reported.

The trial of Seungri, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, is part of a far-reaching scandal involving a network of pop stars, businessmen and cops alleged to have colluded and enabled tax evasion, bribery, and prostitution at some of the glitziest clubs in Seoul's swanky Gangnam district.