South Korea police are seeking to arrest music mogul Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman of HYBE, the agency behind K-pop sensation BTS, over allegations of investor fraud. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has asked prosecutors to request a court warrant for Bang's arrest.
Bang is accused of misleading investors in 2019 by telling them HYBE had no plans to go public, inducing them to sell their shares to a private equity fund before the company proceeded with an initial public offering.
Police believe that the fund may have paid Bang around 200 billion won ($136 million) in a side deal that promised him 30% of post-IPO stock sale profits.
Bang, a music executive and producer who founded HYBE as Big Hit Entertainment in 2005, is widely seen as one of the most powerful figures in K-pop, overseeing some of the industry's most popular acts, including Seventeen, Le Sserafim and Katseye in addition to BTS.
