ZE:A Under Investigation for Allegedly Fabricating Academic Credits, Star Empire Denying Any of the Members' Involvement in the Modus

The members of ZE:A are being investigated for earning suspicious academic credits for classes they didn't attend.

Nov 8, 2013 05:26 AM GMT

TAGㆍZEA

The members of ZE:A were recently criticised after news came out that they were apparently given special treatment at the online university they currently endorsed. According to statements, the boys are being granted school credits for classes they aren't even enrolled in.

The issue was raised by News 8 who said that The Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) has found out through scholastic records that the members of ZE:A earned 30 school records by taking at least 10 classes in 3 semesters. However, it was discovered that the members did not participate in these classes; instead it was a professor and an assistant professor who filled in for them.

Since this is an online university, classes where held online. By this, students are only required to click on modules and lectures to confirm their attendance. Therefore the professor and the assistant could easily log in ZE:A's attendance on their behalf.

When reached for a statement, representatives from the online university denied any knowledge of the matter. "It could be some kind of glitch in the system. It doesn't make sense that the professor would click in and take classes for them." The assistant professor involved in the issue has resigned while the head professor could not be contacted for comments.

The BAI firmly demanded that the boys' credits be withdrawn and given F's instead as it is a standard regulation that a student must be able to attend more than ¾ of the total course lectures in order to pass the class.

ZE:A's agency, Star Empire, has released a statement through a press conference to clarify the issue and clear ZE:A's name. According to the representative, it was the school who permitted this, and the members of ZE:A themselves did not have anything to do with.

"ZE:A has never attended classes using illegal methods. We've already revealed to the BAI two months ago that the members have nothing to do with this. We only learned about this ourselves from the BAI's investigation... Thus, the 2010 grades received have been reissued as F's. It is a shame that the school has done such a thing without the student's permission. We are very sorry for causing concern."

It is not only ZE:A who's been investigated in discrepancies involving online universities as other institutions has been accused of granting school credits in exchange of money or endorsements from celebrities.

TagㆍZEA