SEOUL 鈥 South Korean police raided offices at the headquarters of K-pop agency HYBE on Thursday over allegations of unfair share trading involving the company chairman, a source familiar with the matter said.

The country鈥檚 financial regulator has referred the chairman of HYBE, Bang Si-hyuk, to prosecutors to investigate his activities during the company鈥檚 stock market listing, according to media reports.

Ahead of the 2020 initial public offering (IPO), Bang and three other executives were accused of having 鈥渄eceived鈥 investors into selling their shares to an investment company they controlled and eventually profited from share sales after the listing, media reported.

HYBE manages the global K-pop boy band BTS.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police declined to comment when asked.

HYBE referred to its previous statement that the company was fully cooperating with authorities including the police for 鈥渇act-finding efforts.鈥

鈥淲e will take the necessary time to thoroughly demonstrate that the IPO was carried out in full compliance with laws,鈥 HYBE said.

Bang is HYBE鈥檚 founder and largest shareholder. 鈥 Reuters

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