Overview
- Police formally referred Bang Si‑hyuk and four others to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office on Thursday after a 21‑month probe into alleged schemes tied to Hybe’s 2020 IPO.
- Investigators say those named told existing shareholders in 2019 there were no listing plans while steering their stakes to a private equity fund whose investors were told of the IPO, generating about 263.1 billion won in alleged improper gains.
- A court granted a police request to preserve assets equivalent to the alleged gains so funds are frozen before any potential forfeiture if prosecutors press charges.
- The inquiry has included a July 2025 raid of Hybe headquarters, repeated questioning of Bang, an overseas travel ban, and two earlier rejected police requests for arrest warrants that led prosecutors to ask for further work.
- Bang and Hybe deny wrongdoing and have supplied documents to investigators while prosecutors now weigh whether to indict, order new probes, or take other legal steps under South Korea’s Capital Markets Act with heavy penalties for large‑value cases.