Comedian Lee Jin-ho, who is accused of illegal gambling, has been sent to prosecutors.
According to police on the 14th, the Yangpyeong Police Station in Gyeonggi referred Lee without detention to the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office in the middle of last month on charges of illegal gambling.
Lee previously admitted to illegal gambling in 2024 through his social media. He gambled through an illegal online gambling site, and in the process, he reportedly borrowed about 2 billion won from a lending company and fellow entertainers.
The case was initially investigated by the Gangnam Police Station, which referred Lee without detention in April last year. However, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office reviewed the investigation records and requested supplementary investigation, asking that accounts related to the gambling site be further checked.
Gangnam Police conducted additional investigation and sent Lee back to prosecutors in September last year, and prosecutors transferred the case to the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office in consideration of Lee's residence. Prosecutors again requested supplementary investigation from the Yangpyeong Police Station at the end of October last year, leading to the latest referral.
Lee also faces a drunk driving charge along with the illegal gambling charge. He is accused of driving about 100 kilometers from Incheon to Yangseo-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi, where he lives, in the early morning of Sept. 24 last year after drinking. His blood alcohol level at the time reportedly exceeded the license revocation threshold.
However, on the 1st, Lee collapsed at home from a cerebral hemorrhage and is being treated in an intensive care unit.