Celebrities Indicted for Illegal Gambling (Tony Ahn, Lee Soo Geun, Andy, and More) Receive Their Sentences

Lee Soo Geun (38), Tak Jae Hoon (45), singer Tony Ahn (35), and three other celebrities who were indicted for illegal online gambling, received their sentences today.

Shin Myun Hee, a chief judge at the Seoul Central District Court gave Lee Soo Geun, Tak Jae Hoon, and Tony Ahn a six months prison sentence suspended for one year at the sentencing trial, which was held on December 27.

Prior to this, during the final trial held on December 6, the three celebrities admitted to the charges made by the prosecuting attorney and pleaded for a favorable handling of their case. The prosecution stated, “Their acknowledgement of the crime and regret for their wrongdoings were taken into account.”  The prosecution demanded a 10 months prison sentence for Tony Ahn, eight months to Lee Soo Geun, and six months to Tak Jae Hoon in prison with two years probation each.

According to the prosecutor, they were charged for gambling large amounts of money on the English Premier League matches through their smart phones.

The prosecutor also added, the other celebrities who were charged but gambled a smaller amount of money were charged with a fine: broadcaster Boom and singer Andy each received a fine of 5 million won, and comedian Yang Sae Hyung received a fine of 3 million won.

Investigation revealed Tony Ahn gambled 400 million won from May 2009 to March 2012, Lee Soo Geun gambled 370 million won from December 2008 to June 2011, and Tak Jae Hoon gambled 290 million won from February 2008 to April 2011.

Investigation also revealed Andy gambled 44 million won, Boom and Yang Sae Hyung gambled 33 million won and 260 million won, respectively.

Earlier this year, comedian Kim Yong Man was charged and tried for gambling over 1 billion won. The investigation for this case led to obtaining information about these celebrities.

According to the investigation, Tak Jae Hoon, Lee Soo Geun, and Kim Yong Man were lured by an individual who was a member of their soccer club. Tony Ahn, Andy, Yang Sae Hyung, and Boom, who were serving in the military during the same time period, were lured by a broker while they were on leave from the military.

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