South Korean police seek to arrest K-pop mogul behind BTS

South Korean police are seeking to arrest music mogul Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman of the agency behind K-pop supergroup BTS, as they expand an investment fraud investigation.

Bang is under investigation over allegations that he misled investors in 2019 by telling them HYBE had no plans to go public, inducing them to sell their shares to a private equity fund before the company proceeded with an initial public offering.

Police believe that the fund may have paid Bang around 200 billion won $136 million.

Bang, a music executive and producer who founded HYBE as Big Hit Entertainment in 2005, is one of the most powerful figures in K-pop, overseeing some of the industry’s most popular acts, including Seventeen, Le Sserafim and Katseye.