Tax authorities launch investigation into Hybe amid insider trading allegations against chairman Bang Si-hyuk
Hybe, the entertainment giant behind K-pop phenomenon BTS, is now under investigation by the country's tax authorities, following a police raid last week over allegations that Chairman Bang Si-hyuk violated capital market laws.
According to a local report Tuesday, National Tax Service officials were dispatched to Hybe's headquarters in Seoul to secure documents and financial records. The investigation is being led by the NTS' 4th Bureau of Investigation at the Seoul Regional Tax Office — a division typically responsible for special or irregular audits.
Earlier the same day, the NTS announced in a briefing that it had launched tax probes into 27 individuals and entities suspected of stock market manipulation and tax evasion, with Hybe among them. The total scale of the suspected tax evasion is estimated at around 1 trillion won ($718.7 million).
'Unfair practices in the stock market have caused both domestic and global investors to lose confidence in Korea's financial system,' the agency said. 'This has deepened the so-called 'Korea Discount' and contributed to the nation's sluggish economic growth. We will thoroughly investigate tax evasion tied to capital market disruptions.'
This marks the first time Hybe has faced a tax audit since 2022, when the Seoul tax office conducted a regular investigation and imposed a multi-billion-won penalty on the company.
The new probe comes just days after police raided Hybe as part of a separate investigation into Bang.
Authorities are probing allegations that Bang misled existing investors in 2019 by claiming the company had no plans for an initial public offering, only to later proceed with one. He is suspected of encouraging those investors to sell their shares to a private equity fund with which he was personally affiliated.
According to South Korean financial regulators, Bang ultimately received 30 percent of the fund's resale profit following the IPO, allegedly pocketing roughly 190 billion won in unjust gains.
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