HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk's home undergoes raid and seizure amid ongoing investigations on IPO fraud charges

On Thursday, December 18, the South Korean media outlet E Today reported that the HYBE Chairman, Bang Si-hyuk's house underwent a raid and seizure. The report explained that the Financial Supervisory Service’s (FSS) Special Judicial Police for Capital Markets conducted a search and seizure operation at the Chairman's residence and office.

The raid and seizure took place over the span of two days, between December 17 and 18. This search and seizure took place amid the ongoing police investigations regarding Bang Si-hyuk's IPO fraud charges. Reportedly, there are two parallel investigations for the case, one by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which began in December 2024, and was recently announced to conclude soon.

On the other hand, the prosecutors have referred the case to FSS’s Special Judicial Police for Capital Markets back in July 2025. Therefore, the raid and seizure were a decision made by FSS’s Special Judicial Police for Capital Markets to gather additional information and go through another round of examination on top of the investigations conducted by the police.

However, exact details regarding the status of their investigation are yet to be revealed. Following the completion of investigations from both sides, the documents and reports gathered through the investigation are presented to the Magistrate, and if the evidence is found sufficient, a court trial will be conducted.

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All you need to know about HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk's IPO fraud allegations

Bang Si-hyuk is currently being investigated for his alleged trading practices in 2019, during the establishment of HYBE Labels. Reportedly, the Chairman misled the company's investors, stating that they would not be opting for a public listing, but nonconsensually sold shares of HYBE to private equity funds to gain personal profits. Therefore, when HYBE later decided to go public, the Chairman garnered a total profit of 190 billion KRW.

Therefore, this illegal action stood as a violation of South Korea's Capital Market Law. Regarding this case, the police began their investigations in December 2024 and also raided the HYBE headquarters, gathering all the necessary evidence required for the case. Additionally, he also underwent multiple rounds of questioning by the police.

Since August of this year, following his return from his US trip, Bang Si-huk has also been on a travel ban, restricting him from traveling outside of South Korea. Most recently, it was also reported that Bang Si-hyuk's HYBE shared work 156.8 billion KRW has been provisionally frozen by the Seoul court upon request from the police.

The assets were frozen to prevent the Chairman from disposing of possible evidence that could be used to determine his guilt on the charges. Here's what the court stated regarding its approval of the provisional seizure:

"There is substantial reason to believe that the suspect (Bang Si-hyuk) acquired criminal proceeds through the alleged offenses, which are subject to forfeiture under the Act on the Regulation of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds. There is concern that a forfeiture judgment could not be executed, or that its execution would be markedly difficult."

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However, HYBE representatives, including Bang Si-hyuk, have consistently denied the allegations and expressed that all transactions within the company took place legally.

Edited by Aishwarya Sai