South Korean police said Tuesday they want to arrest music star Bang Si-Hyuk, the chairman of the agency behind K-pop supergroup BTS, as they expand an investigation into allegations that he illegally gained more than $100 million in an investor fraud scheme.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed that it has asked prosecutors to request a court order to arrest Bang, the billionaire founder and chairman of Hybe.
Bang’s legal team in a statement sent to the Associated Press did not directly address the allegations but expressed regret that the police wanted to arrest him “despite our full and consistent cooperation with the investigation for a long time.”
“We will continue to cooperate with all legal processes and do everything possible to clearly explain our position,” the statement said.
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Bang, who has been banned from leaving the country since August, is being investigated for allegedly misleading investors in 2019 by telling them that Hybe had no plans to go public, which led them to sell their shares to a private fund, before the company went ahead with its public offering.
Police believe the fund may have paid Bang as much as ¥200 billion (about $185 million) in a side deal that promised him 30 percent of the profits from a post-IPO stock sale.
Hybe officials say Bang denies any wrongdoing.
Bang’s legal problems are a major public relations blow for Hybe, coming as BTS begins an international tour after a nearly four-year hiatus as its seven members serve their mandatory military service, which is required of many of South Korea’s powerful men.
BTS performed in front of tens of thousands of international fans at a free comeback concert in Seoul last month and also held several concerts in the South Korean city of Goyang and Tokyo. The group will begin a series of American events with a concert in Tampa, Florida, later this month.
FILE – Korean group BTS performs at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File
Bang, the music executive and producer who founded Hybe as Big Hit Entertainment in 2005, is widely regarded as one of the most powerful figures in K-pop and has sought to use the global success of BTS to build his company into an international pop powerhouse.
In 2021, Hybe spent nearly $1 billion to buy Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, which acquired management rights to artists such as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
Although Hybe’s roster includes some of K-pop’s biggest acts, such as Seventeen, Le Sserafim and Katseye in addition to BTS, the company has seen turmoil in recent years, including a public feud between Bang and star producer Min Hee-Jin over popular girl group NewJeans.
A rift erupted in 2024 when Hybe tried to remove Min as CEO of Ador, the company that owns NewJeans, while accusing him of trying to illegally control that company.
Min, meanwhile, accused Bang of hostile treatment and undermining of NewJeans in favor of other groups, as the dispute went to court. Members of NewJeans, who described Min as a consultant, tried to leave the label after he was fired, but a court last year ruled that they must honor their contract until 2029.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
