HYBE chairman Bang Si Hyuk issues statement as South Korean police seek warrant for his arrest

HYBE chairman Bang Si Hyuk has released a statement through his legal representative after South Korean police requested a warrant for his arrest due to alleged fraudulent trading. 

Citing his lawyer, Soompi reported on Tuesday that Bang found the arrest warrant request "regrettable" as he has been cooperating with the authorities. 

“It is regrettable that an arrest warrant has been requested despite his sincere cooperation with the investigation over a long period of time. We will faithfully participate in future legal proceedings and do our utmost to clarify the facts," his lawyer said. 

On Tuesday, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency through its Financial Crime Investigation Division announced that it had requested an arrest warrant for Bang for allegedly violating the Capital Markets Act (fraudulent unfair trading). 

According to Soompi's report, Bang is accused of deceiving investors by inducing them to sell their shares to a specific private equity fund after claiming that there were no plans for an IPO ahead of HYBE's public listing in 2019. 

Police suspect that Bang had an earlier agreement with the private equity fund, which led him to receive 30% of the profits from post-IPO share sales. The alleged arrangement is believed to have generated nearly 200 billion won (approximately P8.1 billion) in illicit profits.

Bang has denied the allegations, maintaining that the sale was done at the request of the investors themselves, and that the profit-sharing arrangement was originally proposed by them. 

—Jade Veronique Yap/CDC, GMA News