On the morning of July 24, the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Capital Police Department (Korea) arrived at HYBE Group headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul to raid the building and conduct a search and seizure of property.
This activity is being conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into fraud and unfair transactions by the company's Chairman, Bang Si Hyuk.
Chairman Bang Si Hyuk was accused of deceiving HYBE's current investors in 2019 that the company had no plans to publicly list public stocks (IPO), causing them to sell their stocks to a private equity fund (PEF) established by Bang Si Hyuk's acquaintance. Meanwhile, HYBE is still speeding up procedures to conduct IPO.
Financial institutions reported that Chairman Bang Si Hyuk has earned 190 billion won in illegal profits, including 30% of the proceeds from selling shares of private investment funds.
Police began investigating late last year, after allegations of transactions between Bang Si Hyuk and a private investment fund held by his close associate.
In April and May this year, the police submitted a request for a search warrant, but the prosecution denied it. On July 17, the police continued to submit a request for a search warrant and seizure of HYBE headquarters and were accepted, thereby speeding up the investigation.
The case of Chairman Bang Si Hyuk became the focus, because HYBE is one of the 4 largest companies in the Korean music industry (along with SM, YG and JYP), owning many famous music groups such as BTS, Seventeen, TXT, LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT...
