[Dispatch=Lee Myung-joo] HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk has been transferred to prosecutors.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Serious Crimes Investigation Division transferred Chairman Bang, who is suspected of fraudulent transactions under the Capital Markets Act, to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office on an undetained basis.
Other executives were also referred on the same charges. They include HYBE CEO Lee, former Chief Financial Officer Kwon, Easton PE CEO Yang, and NewMain Equity CEO Kim.
This comes 1 year and 9 months after police initiated a preliminary investigation before filing charges. Police have been investigating since learning of reports that Chairman Bang obtained unjust profits in the process of HYBE's listing.
Chairman Bang is suspected of deceiving existing investors by telling them there were no plans for a listing ahead of HYBE's 2019 listing, then selling shares to a specific private equity fund.
He was preparing for a listing but concealed it. While telling investors "there are no plans for listing," he established a fund by telling private equity fund investors "there are plans for listing."
As a result, investors sold all their HYBE shares. However, about a year later, HYBE went public. Police believe Chairman Bang and others pocketed part of the sale gains through a contract with the private equity fund made before the listing.
The unjust profits calculated by police for Chairman Bang and others total 263.1 billion won. Police requested asset preservation before prosecution, and a full asset preservation decision was made.
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