The police are continuing their investigation into Mnet’s “Produce X 101,” now looking into whether producing directors (PD) manipulated the show in exchange for monetary compensation.

A source from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stated, “We are currently in the process of investigating PDs of ‘Produce X 101’ and related agency representatives. As it is not possible to figure out whether there was any monetary compensation by just looking at the bank accounts of one side, we also plan to analyze connected accounts and the bank accounts of others who may be involved.” They stated, “We’ve checked the bank accounts of the PDs. There are still additional matters we have to look into so we cannot confirm or deny at this time whether there were any monetary transactions.”

Though the investigation initially began with allegations of vote manipulation on “Produce X 101,” it has now grown to encompass all four seasons of the “Produce 101” series, as well as Mnet’s other survival program “Idol School.” Regarding “Idol School,” the source explained, “We are in the final stages of analyzing the data we seized on September 21. We will be calling in involved representatives for questioning soon.”

Following the end of “Produce X 101,” allegations arose that the results had been manipulated to change the final outcome of the top 20 rankings, of which the top 11 then went on to debut as X1. Since the investigation began, the police have conducted multiple search and seizures to obtain documents and other information. They are currently investigating five agencies related to the allegations across the four seasons of the “Produce 101” series, and agency representatives have been called in for questioning as the case has progressed.

When asked for comment, a source from Mnet stated, “We are currently in the process of looking over the reports. We cannot give a statement at this time.”

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