HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk Set for Prosecutorial Referral in IPO Case

HYBE chairman Bang Si Hyuk is expected to be referred to prosecutors this week in connection with allegations surrounding share sales before the entertainment company’s initial public offering. The planned referral follows a lengthy police investigation into whether existing investors were misled about HYBE’s listing plans before they sold their stakes.

Hong Seok Gi, head of the National Police Agency’s investigation headquarters, said at a regular briefing on August 31 that preparations for the referral were nearly complete. The decision moves the matter into a new procedural stage after investigators spent roughly 20 months examining the allegations and the transactions involved.

Allegations focus on the period before HYBE’s listing

The case centers on events in 2019, before HYBE became a publicly traded company. Investigators allege that Bang told existing investors there were no plans for an IPO, leading them to sell shares to a particular private equity fund. HYBE later proceeded with its stock-market listing.

Police believe a confidential agreement had been arranged in advance between Bang and the fund. Under that alleged contract, Bang was to receive 30 percent of the profit generated by the share sale. Investigators estimate that the arrangement produced approximately ₩190 billion, or about $138 million, in gains for him.

Those claims remain allegations at this stage, and the referral itself is not a finding of guilt. It transfers the investigative record to prosecutors, who can examine the evidence and determine what legal action, if any, should follow. The central questions concern what investors were told, when listing preparations were underway, and how the profit-sharing agreement operated.

A prolonged investigation approaches its next phase

Police opened a preliminary inquiry in December 2024. The case later developed into a full investigation, which included a search of HYBE’s headquarters. That progression indicates that investigators gathered corporate and financial material as they sought to reconstruct the sequence of events before the IPO.

The investigation also encountered procedural delays. Prosecutors rejected police applications for arrest warrants twice in May, extending the period before a referral could be completed. The latest statement from the police investigation chief now places the handover to prosecutors within the current week.

Bang is presently expected to be referred without detention. Hong said the question of whether prosecutors would seek his detention would be considered after the case is transferred. That means the referral and any later decision about custody are separate steps rather than a single outcome.

Why the referral matters for HYBE

The case places attention on the financial arrangements that preceded the public listing of one of South Korea’s most prominent entertainment companies. HYBE’s rise has been closely associated with the global expansion of K-pop, but the present investigation concerns corporate disclosures, investor decisions, and private contractual terms rather than the company’s artists or creative operations.

The size of the alleged gain gives the investigation particular financial weight. At the same time, the reported figure is part of the police theory of the case and must be evaluated alongside the alleged contract and evidence about communications with shareholders. Prosecutors will inherit both the factual record and the unresolved procedural questions that accumulated during the extended inquiry.

The prosecutorial review will determine how the evidence collected by police is assessed and whether the allegations support further proceedings. Until that review advances, the reported ₩190 billion figure, the alleged 30 percent profit share, and the claim that investors were told an IPO was not planned remain matters under investigation.

For now, the expected referral represents the most significant procedural development since the police investigation expanded. It concludes neither the case nor the legal questions around the pre-listing transactions, but it brings prosecutors formally into the decision-making process after months of police work.