Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crime Investigation Unit in Mapo District, Seoul, on Monday, to be questioned as a suspect over allegations he misled investors ahead of the company’s IPO. (Yonhap)
Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crime Investigation Unit in Mapo District, Seoul, on Monday, to be questioned as a suspect over allegations he misled investors ahead of the company’s IPO. (Yonhap)

Bang Si-hyuk, chairman and founder of K-pop powerhouse Hybe, appeared for police questioning Monday over allegations he took 190 billion won ($137 million) in unfair profits in the process of the company's listing.

Bang appeared at Seoul Metropolitan Police's Mapo office in western Seoul to undergo questioning as a suspect over potential violations of the Capital Market Act.

"I am sorry for causing concern with my actions," he told reporters before entering the building. "I will faithfully undergo the investigation."

Bang is suspected of deceiving investors in 2019 that he had no plans to hold an initial public offering for Hybe before inducing them to sell their shares in the company to a private equity fund associated with him.

The investors believe Hybe was already preparing to go public at the time, and police suspect that after the IPO was held Bang pocketed 190 billion won through the private equity fund's share sale.

Police began investigating the case late last year and searched the Korea Exchange in June to seize documents related to Hybe's listing before raiding Hybe's headquarters the next month. (Yonhap)