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🇰🇷 South Korea /Crime & Justice

Bang Si-hyuk and four others referred to prosecutors over alleged fraudulent trading, 263.1 billion won preserved

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement In the courts
  • Seoul police referred HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk and four other people to prosecutors without detention over alleged fraudulent trading under South Korea’s Capital Markets Act.
  • Police allege they concealed HYBE’s listing plans from existing investors, who then sold stakes to private equity funds, generating 263.1 billion won in illicit gains.
  • The investigation lasted 20 months, but police and prosecutors disagreed over whether the alleged conduct violated the social legal interest protected by the law, limiting further efforts to secure Bang’s detention.

Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, and four others have been sent to prosecutors without detention over allegations that investors were misled during preparations for the company’s stock-market listing. Police also secured preservation measures covering 263.1 billion won in alleged illicit gains.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crime Investigation Unit referred Bang, HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang, former HYBE chief financial officer Kwon Yong-sang, Easton Equity Partners CEO Yang Jun-seok and New Main Equity CEO Kim Chang-hee to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office on Dec. 3. They face allegations of fraudulent trading under the Capital Markets Act.

Police allege that the group told existing investors HYBE had no plans to go public while arranging for their stakes to be transferred to private equity funds. The alleged scheme generated about 263.1 billion won in unfair profits, according to the investigation.

Police investigated the case for 20 months and questioned Bang five times. They also sought arrest warrants twice. But investigators and prosecutors failed to narrow their disagreement over whether Bang’s conduct infringed the “social legal interest” protected by the Capital Markets Act, so police did not make another attempt to secure his detention.

Former HYBE chief investment officer Kim Jung-dong reportedly left the country before police conducted a search and seizure operation. The description ends as police discuss efforts to have him arrested.

About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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