Police said they are reviewing the prosecution's request for supplementary investigation after prosecutors returned, again, the arrest warrant police had reapplied for against HYBE Chair Bang Si-hyuk.
At a regular press briefing on the 11th, Park Sung-ju, head of the National Office of Investigation (NOI) at the Korean National Police Agency, said, "We will comprehensively review the items requested for supplementary investigation and decide whether to reapply for the arrest warrant."
Regarding views that the prosecution's two rejections of the arrest warrant police sought for Chair Bang reflect a turf war between the two agencies, the Deputy Minister Park said, "I have never paid attention to that, so I find it hard to agree." She added, "We are coordinating well with the prosecution."
Prosecutors allege that in 2019, before HYBE's listing, Chair Bang provided information to existing investors and venture capital (VC) firms implying there were no plans to list, then induced them to transfer equity to a private equity fund (PEF) set up by an acquaintance.
Police have been investigating since last year. The Financial Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency first applied for an arrest warrant for Chair Bang on the 21st of last month. Prosecutors, however, returned it on the 24th of the same month, saying, "We determined that the explanations for the reasons necessitating detention at this stage are insufficient and requested supplementary investigation."
Police reapplied for Chair Bang's arrest warrant on the 30th of last month, six days after it was returned, but prosecutors rejected it again on the 6th of this month.