CEO Of Popular Singer’s Agency Sentenced To Prison For “Sajajegi”

The former CEO of singer Young Tak‘s agency has been sentenced to prison for engaging in sajaegi or chart manipulation.

On February 4, KST, News1 reported that the 5th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court held a hearing for 11 individuals for chart manipulation, including Lee Jae Gyu, the former CEO of Milagro. They were charged with obstruction of business by using a computer to artificially inflate music chart rankings.

Lee was sentenced to eight months in prison, ordering him to be detained immediately. Nine other officials from different entertainment and PR agencies were also given prison terms ranging from six months to two years. Some, also received suspended sentences for participating in the chart manipulation.

Lee Jae Gyu was charged in May last year for allegedly soliciting a marketing company to manipulate the music charts to raise the ranking for Young Tak’s song “Why Are You There” in 2019.

The court noted that music chart manipulation was a serious offense that could have a lasting impact on the distribution order of the music market.

The defendants’ actions should be punished severely because they are causing great psuchological frustration to the trainees working hard even right at this moment.

— Seoul Central District Court

Lee and the other ten defendants used approximately 500 virtual PCs, bulk-purchased IP addresses, and 1,627 illegally sourced pieces of personal information to artificially stream 15 songs 1,727,985 times. They also recruited brokers to manipulate rankings and circumvent music site security systems that can detect artificial streaming patterns.

Singer Young Tak was also investigated when the controversy broke, but he was found not guilty as the prosecution found no evidence of his involvement in this matter.