Police revealed that they have taken in ten individuals who are associated with the current "Produce X 101" scandal. At a press conference that took place on November 12, Commissioner General Lee Yong Pyo from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency shared that ten persons involved in the controversy are already booked, and that includes high-ranking agents from CJ E&M Entertainment, Ahn Joon Young, chief producer Kim Yong Bum, producing director named "Lee," and Starship Entertainment's vice president Kim.
Commissioner-General Lee Yong Pyo also stated that they believe a thorough investigation is a must to create a fair society, and that they are currently analyzing suspicions with regard to the entertainment companies, favor exchanging, and the association of the officials. The booked ten individuals are said to be advancing to prosecution on November 14. While that is going on, they noted that the police plan to call "Produce X 101" contestants and consider them as witnesses, who they will ask about the vote-rigging accusations.
Based on the article, the police assume that there are particular trainees who received benefits from the manipulation while the rest got disadvantages. Those who will be enquired are the trainees who come from the agencies who were previously seized and searched and the ones who were most likely to be part of the final lineup but was not able to make it. They are believed to be questioned if they heard anything suspicious while filming the show or from their labels about the manipulation.
They also added that police would also investigate whether famous participants were removed from the final lineup in order to avoid any complications for their agency-related activities. On top of that, police are reportedly examining the potential that there might be some persuasions and exchange of favors that happened to come up with the final 11 members for the project boy group.
In connection to this, Ahn Joon Young previously admitted the manipulation of the scores of "Produce X 101" and "Produce 48." Police discovered that he received entertainment in Gangnam, paid for by companies, which started in January 2018 - five months before the "Produce 48" premiere and six months after the "Produce 101 Season 2" finale.
Police unveiled that the total amount spent on the entertainment services for Ahn Joon Young is more than 100 million won. Also, they are still in the process of studying the other programs produced by Mnet.
