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HYBE under investigation for stock manipulation and tax evasion

Published: 29 Jul. 2025, 19:36

KIM MIN-YOUNG
[email protected]

HYBE headquarters on Sept. 12, 2024 [NEWS1]

HYBE, the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS, is under investigation by the National Tax Service (NTS) as part of a sweeping probe into alleged stock manipulation and illicit transactions during corporate listings.

NTS officials visited HYBE’s Seoul headquarters on Tuesday to collect documents and related materials, according to industry sources. The investigation is being led by the NTS Seoul Regional Office's fourth investigation bureau, which typically handles special and unannounced audits.

The tax authority announced earlier in the day that it had launched a large-scale investigation into 27 companies on suspicion of using false disclosures to manipulate stock prices or engaging in predatory practices. HYBE is reportedly among them.

The probe targets nine firms accused of issuing false disclosures to inflate stock prices, eight entities allegedly run by corporate “hit-and-run” operators and 10 controlling shareholders suspected of siphoning off company profits through privatization schemes. Collectively, these cases are believed to involve tax evasion amounting to about 1 trillion won ($718.2 million).

HYBE is already under separate investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service’s special judicial police unit, under the supervision of prosecutors and police, for alleged stock manipulation involving founder and Chairman Bang Si-hyuk.

Bang Si-hyuk, founder and chairman of K-pop agency HYBE, second from left, attends a conference in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, on Feb. 20. [YONHAP]

Bang is accused of misleading early investors — including venture capital firms — in 2019 into believing that HYBE's initial public offering would be delayed while arranging for a private equity firm set up by HYBE executives to acquire company shares through a special purpose company.

Following HYBE’s stock market debut, the special purpose company sold its shares, and Bang allegedly received 30 percent of the resulting profit based on a prearranged shareholder agreement. The NTS is now examining whether HYBE evaded taxes in the course of these transactions.

An NTS spokesperson declined to comment, citing agency policy regarding ongoing investigations.

This is the first tax audit of HYBE in three years. In June 2022, the company underwent a regular audit led by the first investigation bureau of the NTS Seoul Regional Office, which resulted in the collection of several billion won in additional taxes.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]