HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk underwent almost 14 hours of questioning that ended Monday night regarding whether he had intentionally misled investors prior to the K-pop company's initial public offering (IPO) in 2019.

Bang left the Financial Crimes Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Mapo District, western Seoul, at around 11:48 p.m., 13 hours and 48 minutes after questioning began at 10 a.m. on the same day.

He was guarded by two security staff. When asked by reporters what he had told police about the allegations that he had illicitly pocketed 190 billion won ($137 million) and whether he had worked with a private equity fund on an IPO scheme, he stayed silent and walked directly to a black vehicle awaiting him.

Bang was summoned on allegations that he misrepresented HYBE's IPO plans in order to buy back shares through a private equity fund connected to him.

Police suspect that Bang in 2019 assured venture capital firms and other early investors that HYBE had no plans to list the company, and then urged them to sell their holdings to a private equity fund with ties to him. The investors said they trusted his statements, but the company had already begun preliminary steps toward an IPO.

Investigators believe Bang secured illicit gains of about 190 billion won, including 30 percent of the profit from the private equity fund's resale of HYBE shares.

Police raided the Korea Exchange office on June 30 and HYBE's office on July 24 regarding the allegations.

In an internal email to HYBE staff last month, Bang reassured employees that he will "diligently cooperate with the investigations and explain the details" of the situation.

"I hope to clear the truth during the process and I will humbly wait for a decision from the authorities," read the email.

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]