Bang Si Hyuk, the founder and chairman of K-pop powerhouse HYBE, has been barred from leaving South Korea. Yonhap News reported on October 1st that police have placed an exit ban on the executive, who is a suspect in an investigation into alleged violations of the Capital Markets Act.
The investigation focuses on accusations that Bang misled HYBE investors in 2019 by claiming the company had no plans for an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Authorities suspect that he arranged for those investors’ shares to be sold to a private equity fund set up by HYBE executives after the IPO process began.
Once the IPO was underway, the private equity fund sold its shares for a massive profit. Bang himself is believed to have received approximately 190 billion won ($140 million) in illicit gains through an alleged pre-arranged agreement.
Bang’s legal team maintains that the company’s listing complied with all relevant laws and that there are no legal issues.
The police launched their investigation late last year, raiding both the Korea Exchange and HYBE’s headquarters to seize documents related to the listing. Chairman Bang has been questioned as a suspect twice in the past month.
>> HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk Questioned by Police for Second Time in Unfair Trading Probe
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