Police reapply for arrest warrant for HYBE's Bang six days after prosecutor denied previous request

Police again applied for an arrest warrant for K-pop mogul Bang Si-hyuk, the chairman of HYBE, last Thursday, six days after the prosecutor denied the warrant and requested a supplementary investigation.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s financial crimes investigation division resubmitted the arrest warrant request for alleged fraudulent and unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act, findings by the JoongAng Ilbo revealed Thursday.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office had previously rejected the arrest warrant request and requested a supplementary investigation from police regarding the arrest warrant on April 24.

“We judged that there was insufficient justification at this stage to warrant detention,” said the prosecutors' office at the time of rejection.

The chairman has been under police investigation for allegedly misleading existing shareholders in 2019 while HYBE, then known as Big Hit Entertainment, was preparing for a public listing.

Police allege Bang falsely told shareholders there were no plans for an initial public offering (IPO) and encouraged them to sell shares to a specific private equity fund before the company later went public.

Investigators suspect Bang secured approximately 260 billion won ($179 million) in illicit profits through undisclosed agreements with the fund, including allegedly receiving 30 percent of capital gains following the IPO, amounting to around 190 billion won.

The Capital Markets Act prohibits financial gain through false statements or deceptive schemes in connection with financial investment products, including unlisted shares. Those who violate the act and pocket proceeds of 5 billion won or more can face a prison sentence of five years to life.

HYBE is a major entertainment company known for managing K-pop acts such as BTS and girl groups Katseye and NewJeans.

Police have been investigating the case for 17 months and questioned Bang five times between September and November of last year. Police applied for an arrest warrant for the chairman on April 21.

“We will continue to take a firm stand against crimes that manipulate the capital market,” police stated while announcing the warrant request.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY HAN CHAN-WOO [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]