Producer of a popular K-pop TV audition show, Mnet’s “Produce X 101”, has been arrested over vote-rigging allegation. PHOTO: News1
On Tuesday, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency arrested the head producer Ahn Joon Young and chief producer Kim Yong Bum on charges of obstruction of business by fraud and the threat of force. Arrest warrants requested for two other staffs were dismissed.
The judge also explained why it rejected the arrest warrants for the other staff. "The suspects have admitted guilty to their crimes and the police already collected the evidence. Given the fact that they haven't committed similar crimes before, it is hard to acknowledge the necessity and substantiality of the arrest," he said.
Contestants of "Produce X 101". PHOTO: Mnet
Fans accused the producer of manipulating the voting results, arguing that there are some suspicious numerical patterns in the final vote counts. The vote counts of all 20 candidates were a multiplier of '7494.442'.
11 winners of "Produce X 101" debuted as a boy group 'X1'. PHOTO: News1
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On Tuesday morning, police searched the CJ ENM head office once more, and raided one additional agency.
Police seized data on the producer’s bank accounts and mobile phone to check whether they accepted bribes from the contenders' agencies in exchange for the manipulation.
Police are also looking into allegations that “Idol School”, a similar audition show from the same channel, has also been manipulated./ Choi, Dong-Soo, Nam, Soo-Hyun, Chung, Han-Kyul
*The original version of this article has been published on Nov. 5, 2019.