Police recently submitted a search warrant regarding the fraudulent trading allegations under the Capital Markets Act against Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, it was reported on the 21st.
According to police, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crimes Investigation Unit applied for a search warrant for Chairman Bang and the HYBE headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 17th.
Chairman Bang is suspected of deceiving existing investors, including venture capitalists (VC), about the IPO plans being delayed before HYBE's listing in 2019 and causing HYBE executives to sell their equity to a special purpose company (SPC) established by a private equity fund (PEF) they created.
The prosecution is reportedly reviewing whether to request the search warrant submitted by the police.
Meanwhile, police have requested the transfer of the case to avoid overlapping investigations with the prosecution, which received a complaint regarding the same incident from financial authorities. The prosecution received the complaint against Chairman Bang on the 18th and assigned the case to the Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Unit of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.