South Korean police moved Tuesday to secure a detention warrant for Bang Si-hyuk, the founder and chairman of Hybe, in an investigation into whether he made illicit gains during the company’s 2020 initial public offering. The case centers on the agency behind Bts, whose rise turned Hybe into one of South Korea’s most powerful entertainment companies.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s financial crimes unit said Bang has been booked on charges of fraudulent and unfair trading, with investigators alleging he violated South Korea’s Capital Markets Act. Police say he secured roughly 190 billion won, or $129 million, in illicit gains by deceiving early Hybe shareholders before the listing and steering them to sell their stakes to a private equity fund tied to his associates. Under a prior agreement, police also allege, Bang received about 30 percent of the fund’s profits after Hybe went public.
The warrant request came after months of mounting scrutiny. South Korea’s financial authorities began examining the case in December 2024, police raided Hybe’s Seoul headquarters in July 2025, and Bang later returned voluntarily to South Korea in August 2025 to cooperate. He has been barred from leaving the country since August of last year, and the Seoul Southern District Court approved a provisional seizure of his Hybe shares worth 156.8 billion won in December.
Hybe has not yet responded publicly to Tuesday’s move, and Bang has previously denied wrongdoing. Police said the investigation was essentially complete before they sought the warrant, which suggests they are now moving from evidence gathering to deciding whether the company founder should be detained as the case advances.
Bang founded Big Hit Entertainment in 2005 after leaving JYP Entertainment, and the company came close to bankruptcy in 2007 before he reoriented it around Bts in the following decade. Bts debuted in 2013 and went on to become the first Korean group to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The group is now in the early stages of a sold-out global comeback tour in support of Arirang, its first album in nearly four years.
