Hybe's Founder Faces Arrest. BTS's US Tour Opens in Four Days.

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed Tuesday it has asked prosecutors to pursue a court detention warrant for Bang Si-hyuk, the chairman and founder of Hybe - the most powerful company in K-pop. The charge: securities fraud tied to Hybe's 2020 IPO, with alleged illegal profits estimated at 190 billion won, or roughly $129 million.

The timing is jarring. BTS opens the US leg of its Arirang World Tour in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday.

Police allege that in 2019, Bang told early investors Hybe had no plans to go public. Those investors, acting on that assurance, sold their stakes to a private equity fund connected to Bang's associates. When Hybe went public the following year, the fund sold its position at a significant gain - and Bang is suspected of collecting approximately 30% of those proceeds through a prior arrangement, a structure investigators say was designed to obscure his financial stake in the outcome.

Bang has been questioned five times, placed under a travel ban, and denied wrongdoing throughout the investigation. His legal team issued a statement Tuesday: "We regret that a detention warrant has been sought despite our client's long-standing cooperation with the investigation. We will continue to fully comply with all legal procedures and do our utmost to present our case."

The legal stakes are severe. Under South Korea's Capital Market Act, fraudulent gains exceeding 5 billion won carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. At 190 billion won, Bang's alleged take falls well above that floor. A life sentence is theoretically possible at the upper end.

The warrant request now moves to Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office. If prosecutors formally apply to a court, a hearing typically follows within two to three days - meaning Bang could face a detention decision before BTS takes the stage in Tampa.

Hybe's stock dropped 2.9% Tuesday. The broader KOSPI index was up 1.8% on the same day.

The investigation has moved in stages since late 2024. Police first received a tip about the alleged conduct in November of that year, then raided both the Korea Exchange and Hybe's headquarters the following year. A key alleged accomplice - former Hybe chief investment officer Kim Jung-dong, co-founder of Eastone Equity Partners, one of the private equity vehicles at the center of the case - left for the United States in June 2025 and has not returned. Kim reportedly holds US citizenship. Seoul police have described his departure as a source of particular sensitivity in the ongoing investigation.

The US Embassy in Seoul made an unusual diplomatic intervention earlier this year, writing to the National Police Agency to request that Bang's travel ban be lifted - citing his plans to attend Fourth of July celebrations and, more immediately, his sought presence at the Tampa tour kickoff. The warrant request, which could have been replaced by a prosecution referral without detention, appears to answer that request directly.

Hybe's statement has maintained that its "IPO was carried out in full compliance with laws and regulations." Bang himself founded the company in 2005 as Big Hit Entertainment with a single act: BTS. What followed - a $1 billion acquisition of Ithaca Holdings in 2021, a roster that now includes Seventeen, Le Sserafim, and Katseye, and a market capitalization that once exceeded $10 billion - is the story of how one producer built K-pop's most consequential institution.

The company has not been short of internal turbulence. A protracted legal dispute between Bang and producer Min Hee-Jin over control of subsidiary Ador and the management of NewJeans played out publicly through 2024 and 2025, fracturing Hybe's carefully maintained image of operational stability. That case was a reputational problem. This one carries criminal exposure at the top.

A court must still approve the warrant before Bang can be detained. Until then, BTS's tour schedule remains unchanged.