South Korean police said Tuesday they’re in search of to arrest music mogul Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman of the agency behind K-pop supergroup BTS, as they expand an investigation into allegations that he illegally gained greater than $100 million in an investor fraud scheme.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed that it has asked prosecutors to request a court warrant for arresting Bang, the billionaire founder and chairman of Hybe.
Bang’s legal team in an announcement to The Associated Press did indirectly address the accusations but expressed regret that police were in search of his arrest “despite our full and consistent cooperation with the investigation over an prolonged period.”
“We are going to proceed to cooperate with all legal procedures and make every effort to obviously explain our position,” the statement said.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.
Bang, who has been barred from leaving the country since August, is being investigated over allegations that he misled investors in 2019 by telling them Hybe had no plans to go public, prompting them to sell their shares to a non-public equity fund, before the corporate proceeded with an initial public offering.
Police consider that the fund can have paid Bang around 200 billion won (roughly CAD $185 million) in a side deal that promised him 30 per cent of post-IPO stock sale profits.
Hybe officials say Bang denies any wrongdoing.
Bang’s legal troubles are a significant public relations setback for Hybe, coming as BTS embarks on a world tour after a virtually four-year hiatus as its seven members served their mandatory military service, which is required for many able-bodied South Korean males.
BTS performed in front of tens of hundreds of international fans at a free comeback concert in Seoul last month and have also held several live shows in South Korea’s Goyang city and Tokyo. The group is to kick off a series of U.S. events with a concert in Tampa, Florida, later this month.
FILE – Korean group BTS appears on the sixty fourth Annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File
Bang, a music executive and producer who founded Hybe as Big Hit Entertainment in 2005, is widely seen as one of the vital powerful figures in K-pop and has sought to capitalize on the worldwide success of BTS to construct his company into a global pop powerhouse.
In 2021, Hybe spent about $1 billion to buy Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, securing the management rights to artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
While Hybe’s roster includes a few of K-pop’s biggest acts, similar to Seventeen, Le Sserafim and Katseye along with BTS, the corporate has seen turmoil lately, including a highly public fallout between Bang and star producer Min Hee-Jin over the favored girl group NewJeans.
The rift erupted in 2024 when Hybe attempted to remove Min as CEO of Ador, the subsidiary managing NewJeans, while accusing her of illegally attempting to take control of that company.
Min, in turn, accused Bang of hostile treatment and of undermining NewJeans in favour of other groups, because the dispute moved into courts. Members of NewJeans, who’ve described Min as a mentor, tried to go away the label following her ouster, but a court last yr ruled they need to honour their contract through 2029.
© 2026 The Canadian Press