Overview

• Investigators from the National Tax Service seized documents at Hybe’s Yongsan headquarters as part of the tax probe into alleged fraudulent share transactions.
• Hybe is one of 27 entities targeted in a special audit of suspected stock manipulation and tax evasion totaling about 1 trillion won.
• The NTS Seoul Regional Office’s 4th Bureau is leading what marks Hybe’s first tax audit since a 2022 investigation that resulted in a multi-billion-won penalty.
• This tax review follows police raids on Hybe and formal fraud charges submitted by the Securities and Futures Commission against chairman Bang Si-hyuk.
• Authorities are scrutinizing claims that Hybe executives concealed profit-sharing arrangements and misled investors ahead of the 2020 initial public offering.