[COVER STORY] Bang Si-hyuk case reaches prosecutors. What's next for HYBE chairman?

HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s case has been referred to prosecutors in Seoul over alleged unfair trading linked to HYBE’s 2020 listing. Police say the conduct produced 263.1 billion won in improper gains, and prosecutors will decide whether to indict, seek further investigation or drop the charge. Bang and HYBE deny wrongdoing and say the listing complied with the law.

Police referred Bang Si-hyuk and four others to prosecutors without detention on suspicion of fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act after a 21-month investigation.

Investigators said existing shareholders were told in 2019 that no initial public offering was planned, while other investors were told the listing was coming.

The company, then called Big Hit Entertainment, went public in October 2020, and police said the funds sold shares in two rounds and earned 263.1 billion won.

Police said Bang was reported to have taken about 150 billion won under an undisclosed side agreement that entitled him to 30 percent of the proceeds.

A court granted police a request to preserve assets equal to the full amount before any prosecution.

Published Sep 7, 2026 12:23 pm KST

Key question will be whether his conduct violated public interest

HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's financial crime investigation unit in Mapo District, Seoul, Sept. 15, 2025, for questioning over alleged unfair trading. Newsis

The police file on HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk arrived at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office last week with a precise number attached: 263.1 billion won ($190 million) in what investigators called improper gains.

The question that will decide Bang's fate is one that police and prosecutors have spent almost two years failing to settle between themselves: what crime, if any, the conduct amounts to.

On Thursday, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's financial crime investigation unit referred Bang and four others to prosecutors without detention on suspicion of fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act, closing an investigation that went on for 21 months.

Prosecutors will now review the record before deciding whether to indict, order further investigation or drop the financial crime charge, and lawyers who work these cases say all three remain possible.

Fans take photographs in front of HYBE's headquarters in Yongsan District, Seoul, July 24, 2025. Newsis

What police say happened

Investigators allege that in 2019, while the company, then known as Big Hit Entertainment, was already moving through preliminary listing procedures, Bang and others told existing shareholders, including venture capital backers, that there were no plans for an initial public offering. Those shareholders sold their stakes to a special purpose company created by private equity funds run by people close to Bang, while investors in the funds themselves were told the listing was coming.

As Big Hit Entertainment went public in October 2020, the funds sold the shares in two rounds, and the participants, according to the police, earned 263.1 billion won.

Of that amount, Bang is reported to have taken roughly 150 billion won under an undisclosed side agreement entitling him to 30 percent of the proceeds. A court granted the police request to preserve assets equivalent to the full amount ahead of any prosecution.

Also referred were HYBE Chief Executive Lee Jae-sang, former HYBE Chief Financial Officer Kwon Yong-sang, Easton Equity Partners Chief Executive Yang Jun-seok and NewMain Equity Chief Executive Kim Chang-hee.

Police opened a preliminary inquiry in December 2024 and raided HYBE's headquarters the following year. In August 2025, Bang was barred from leaving the country and was questioned by police five times between September and November the same year.

They sought his arrest twice, on April 21 and 30, and prosecutors rejected both requests, first citing insufficient grounds for detention and then saying the supplementary investigation they had ordered was never carried out.

Big Hit Entertainment founder Bang Si-hyuk, front left, and then-Korea Exchange Chairman Jung Ji-won pose at a ceremony marking the agency's KOSPI debut in the lobby of the Korea Exchange building in Yeouido, Seoul, Oct. 15, 2020. Newsis

Unresolved legal question

Police claimed throughout that the conduct damaged the fairness and integrity of the capital market, not serving public interest that the fraudulent trading provision is designed to protect.

On the other hand, prosecutors leaned toward treating it as harm to specific individual investors, and suggested police consider ordinary fraud instead.

"Under general criminal law, individual and public legal interests are separated by offense, but the Capital Markets Act does not draw that distinction explicitly, so disagreement can arise in interpretation," Seog Sang-yub, an attorney at Law Firm Illo, told a local media outlet.

Choi June-sun, professor emeritus at Sungkyunkwan University Law School, said the evidentiary burden is the practical challenge.

"To secure a conviction for fraudulent trading, prosecutors would have to establish clear causation, and where a public interest is at stake is difficult to prove."

None of that means the case would end quietly. Attorney Chong Kyong-sok of LIWU Law Group told The Korea Times that a decision not to prosecute would be its own kind of problem.

"Police applied for an arrest warrant twice. It would be a heavy burden for prosecutors to conclude with no charges, and the direction of the case is unlikely to be that," Chong said.

"Ultimately this is for a court to decide, and the more genuinely contested the question of whether an offense was committed, the more investigators tend to bring charges rather than resolve it themselves."

Bang and HYBE have denied wrongdoing throughout, maintaining that the listing complied with the relevant laws and regulations and that investors were not deceived.

Bang's legal team said it had consistently made its case on the basis of objective materials and evidence, and that it expects the allegations to be resolved transparently through the proceedings ahead.

HYBE集团董事长方时赫因涉嫌与HYBE 2020年上市相关的违规交易，案件已移交首尔检方。警方称，该行为非法获利2631亿韩元，检方将决定是否提起公诉、进行进一步调查或撤销指控。方时赫和HYBE集团否认有任何不当行为，并表示上市过程符合法律规定。

经过 21 个月的调查，警方以涉嫌违反《资本市场法》进行欺诈性不公平交易为由，将方时赫和其他四人移送检方，但未进行拘留。

调查人员表示，现有股东在 2019 年被告知没有首次公开募股计划，而其他投资者则被告知即将上市。

该公司当时名为 Big Hit Entertainment，于 2020 年 10 月上市。警方称，该基金分两轮出售股票，共筹集了 2631 亿韩元。

警方称，据报道，Bang根据一项未公开的秘密协议，拿走了约1500亿韩元，该协议赋予他30%的收益。

法院批准了警方提出的请求，允许警方在提起诉讼前保留相当于全部金额的资产。

发布于2026年9月7日下午12:23（韩国标准时间）

关键问题在于他的行为是否违反了公共利益。

2025年9月15日，HYBE集团董事长方时赫抵达首尔麻浦区首尔地方警察厅金融犯罪调查科，就涉嫌不正当交易接受讯问。

上周，HYBE 董事长方时赫的警方档案送达首尔南部地方检察厅，档案中附有一个确切的数字：2631 亿韩元（1.9 亿美元），调查人员称之为不正当所得。

决定邦的命运的问题是，警方和检察官近两年来一直未能解决的问题：这种行为究竟构成何种罪行（如果有的话）。

周四，首尔地方警察厅金融犯罪调查组将方某和其他四人移交检方，未拘留他们，理由是他们涉嫌违反《资本市场法》进行欺诈性不公平交易，结束了长达 21 个月的调查。

检察官现在将审查案卷，然后再决定是否起诉、下令进一步调查或撤销金融犯罪指控。处理此类案件的律师表示，这三种情况都有可能。

2025年7月24日，粉丝们在首尔龙山区HYBE总部前拍照。（Newsis）

警方称发生了什么

调查人员称，2019年，当时名为Big Hit Entertainment的公司已经开始进行上市前的初步程序时，方时赫等人却告诉包括风险投资支持者在内的现有股东，公司并没有上市计划。这些股东将股份出售给了由方时赫关系密切的人士运营的私募股权基金设立的特殊目的公司，而这些基金的投资者则被告知公司即将上市。

2020 年 10 月，Big Hit Entertainment 上市，相关基金分两轮出售股份，据警方称，参与者共获利 2631 亿韩元。

据报道，方某从这笔款项中拿走了约1500亿韩元，这是根据一项未公开的秘密协议，他有权获得其中30%的收益。法院批准了警方的请求，在提起诉讼前，可以扣押相当于全部金额的资产。

被提及的还有HYBE首席执行官李在相、HYBE前首席财务官权勇相、Easton Equity Partners首席执行官杨俊锡和NewMain Equity首席执行官金昌熙。

警方于2024年12月展开初步调查，并于次年突击搜查了HYBE总部。2025年8月，邦被禁止离境，同年9月至11月期间，警方对其进行了五次讯问。

他们分别于 4 月 21 日和 30 日两次要求逮捕他，但检察官驳回了这两项请求，先是指出拘留理由不足，然后又表示他们下令进行的补充调查从未进行过。

2020年10月15日，在首尔汝矣岛韩国交易所大楼大厅举行的Big Hit娱乐公司首次登陆韩国综合股价指数（KOSPI）的仪式上，Big Hit娱乐公司创始人方时赫（前排左）与时任韩国交易所董事长郑智媛合影。（Newsis）

未解决的法律问题

警方一直声称，这种行为损害了资本市场的公平性和诚信，没有维护欺诈交易条款旨在保护的公共利益。

另一方面，检察官倾向于将其视为对特定个人投资者的损害，并建议警方考虑将其作为普通欺诈行为处理。

“根据一般刑法，个人和公共法律利益因犯罪行为而分开，但资本市场法没有明确区分这一点，因此在解释上可能会出现分歧，”伊洛律师事务所的律师徐相烨告诉当地媒体。

成均馆大学法学院名誉教授崔俊善表示，举证责任是实际的挑战。

“要对欺诈性交易定罪，检察官必须证明存在明确的因果关系，而当公共利益受到威胁时，这一点很难证明。”

但这并不意味着案件会悄然结束。LIWU律师事务所的律师郑京硕（Chong Kyong-sok）告诉《韩国时报》，不起诉的决定本身也会是个问题。

“警方两次申请逮捕令。如果最终不提出任何指控，对检察官来说将是沉重的负担，而且案件的走向不太可能是那样，”钟说。

“最终这要由法院来决定，而且，如果对是否构成犯罪的问题存在真正的争议，调查人员就越倾向于提起诉讼，而不是自行解决问题。”

Bang 和 HYBE 一直否认有任何不当行为，坚称上市符合相关法律法规，投资者没有受到欺骗。

Bang的法律团队表示，他们始终以客观材料和证据为基础提出诉讼，并希望这些指控能够通过接下来的诉讼程序得到透明的解决。