In a shocking development, police have requested an arrest warrant for HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk on allegations that he deceived investors ahead of the company’s IPO to induce a share sale.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crimes Investigation Unit announced on the 21st that it applied for an arrest warrant for Bang on suspicion of “fraudulent unfair trading.”
According to police, in 2019 Bang allegedly misled HYBE investors by saying there were no plans to list the company, prompting them to sell shares to a specific private equity fund. After HYBE ultimately went public, that fund sold its stake, and under a pre-signed shareholders’ agreement, Bang reportedly received 30% of the sale profit, allegedly pocketing illicit gains of about 190 billion KRW.
Bang has been under a travel ban while under police investigation. Relatedly, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul recently sent a letter to the National Police Agency requesting cooperation to allow Bang’s travel to the United States, citing the group BTS’s world tour and other reasons.