HYBE founder and chairman Bang Si Hyuk is scheduled to attend police questioning for the first time on September 15. This questioning is in connection with allegations of unfair trading and fraud surrounding the company’s initial public offering (IPO).
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency claims that Bang misled investors in 2019 by stating there were no plans for a public listing. The HYBE chairman prompted them to sell their shares to a private equity fund linked to him, while he allegedly profited from the transactions.
Bang Si Hyuk is scheduled to appear at 10:00 a.m. at the Mapo police headquarters on September 15. Since his team did not request a closed-door session, he is expected to be photographed by the press during the process.
This questioning comes after a series of investigative actions, including a raid on HYBE’s headquarters in Yongsan-gu in late July and a previous raid on the Korea Exchange in Yeongdeungpo-gu in June to secure documents related to HYBE’s IPO review. Bang returned to South Korea from the United States on September 11 and is currently in the country.
Investigators allege that prior to HYBE’s IPO, Bang Si Hyuk and former outside directors created a private equity fund that purchased unlisted HYBE shares from investors. The chairman is accused of convincing investors that there were no plans to go public while secretly arranging to receive 30% of the profits from the sale of shares following the IPO.
After the IPO, the private equity fund sold a large portion of its holdings, with authorities estimating Bang’s gains at around 190–200 billion won. Police are investigating whether these actions violate the Capital Markets Act as unfair trading practices.
The case is further complicated by the fact that the institutional investors involved, such as LB Investment, Alpenroot Asset Management, and Chinese venture capital firm Legend Capital, have not filed complaints against Bang or HYBE in the five years since the IPO.
Reports show that LB Investment recovered 120 billion won from an initial 6.5 billion won investment, while Alpenroot made over 10 billion won in profits. Experts note that these investors may have sold their shares due to fund maturity or risk management, as HYBE’s value at the time heavily depended on BTS, whose members were nearing military enlistment.
Legal specialists emphasize that the investigation will need to consider both Bang’s intent and the investors’ motivations. Financial authorities are also reviewing potential irregularities surrounding the IPO process.
Before returning to South Korea, Bang Si Hyuk sent an internal email to HYBE employees addressing the situation. He assumed full responsibility for the current situation, saying, “As founder and chairman, I feel a deep responsibility to ensure nothing overshadows the hard work and creativity of our artists and employees.”
He assured full cooperation with authorities, stating, “I will fully cooperate with investigators and work to resolve these allegations transparently, so our team can focus on what we do best.”
Meanwhile, new President Lee Jae Myung has stressed a strict “one-strike-out” approach against unfair trading, vowing that anyone manipulating the stock market “will be completely ruined.” This policy seeks to boost investor confidence and maintain fairness in the capital markets. He has also called for fast and impartial investigations into all allegations of stock misconduct.
