INTERROGATIONS ON YG FORMER CHIEF

[Anchor Lead]

Former YG Entertainment chief producer Yang Hyun-seok has undergone the first interrogation on the charges of gambling and arrangement of prostitution services. Police questioned Yang for over 20 hours about various allegations.

[Pkg]

Yang Hyun-seok returned home on Friday morning, after an overnight interrogation. The questioning session on the allegation that the former YG chief arranged prostitution services for his investors began after midnight and lasted longer than expected. It was the first interrogation of Yang as a suspect since the Burning Sun scandal erupted, putting him in the spotlight.

[Soundbite] YANG HYUN-SEOK(FMR. CHIEF PRODUCER AT YG ENTERTAINMENT) : "I answered as much as I could, explained the facts in detail."

Police grilled the former producer over three charges. The first one is habitual gambling. Yang is suspected of gambling on multiple occasions at hotel casinos in Las Vegas. The scope of his gambling surpasses one billion won. To find out if Yang gambled on a habitual basis, police reportedly asked him about how many times he did that and how he found money for gambling. How Yang obtained money for gambling is also subject to investigation. The high-profile producer is suspected of having used illegal foreign exchange transactions to borrow foreign currency overseas and pay it off later in Korean currency in Korea. Moreover, he allegedly used the corporate funds of YG's U.S. office to secure money for gambling. Police are analyzing YG Entertainment's cash flow and the financial data of its U.S. office. Yang was also questioned about the allegation that he arranged prostitution services for a wealthy foreign investor back in the year 2014.