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A former K-pop idol has been indicted on charges of organising prostitution, habitual gambling and financial crimes, a year after a string of women alleged they were drugged and served to men at clubs in South Korea

Lee Seung-hyun, 29, whose stage name is Seungri, avoided spending time on remand at a hearing at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office yesterday. 

Seungri, who rose to fame with the world-famous boy band, BIG BANG, was indicted on charges of organising prostitution, habitual gambling, and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.

At the time his crimes were made public, Seungri left the entertainment business. 

South Korean singer Seungri (right), a former member of BigBang, 스핀카지노 arrives for an arrest warrant hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on 13 January

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Seungri is accused of lobbying potential investors by offering sex services at multiple nightclubs in Seoul's posh Gangnam district, pictured here

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Seungri is pictured mobbed by photographers as he arrives for a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on January 13, 2020 in Seoul 

'It would be better for me to retire from the entertainment business at this point,' Seungri said in a 

'As for the ongoing probe, I will take the investigation seriously to clear all allegations,' he added.

The 29-year-old suggested that he was concerned he would cause 'further damage to people around me,' and he would be 'criticized [sic] by the public and being treated as a nation's enemy during the investigation.'   

The indictment is the most recent event in the Burning Sun scandal, which revealed the scale of a sexual abuse scandal in Seoul's exclusive Gangnam district. The investigation tarred the squeaky clean image of South Korea's K-Pop industry last year after a string of women came forward alleging they were drugged in clubs and served to wealthy men to rape.  

One wealthy client with an 'appetite for unconscious women' allegedly asked a club host to 'bring me the zombies'. 

More than 350 people were arrested in the operation.   

Seungri's involvement was as part-owner and public relations liaison of a nightclub in Gangnam. 

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