Police raided the Seoul headquarters of K-pop powerhouse Hybe on Thursday, as part of their investigation into allegations that the entertainment giant’s Chairman Bang Si-hyuk engaged in fraudulent stock transactions.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's economic crime investigation unit began the search and seizure at its headquarters in Seoul's Yongsan District at 9 a.m., as well as locations linked to others suspected of involvement.

Bang is accused of deceiving investors into thinking that plans for the company to go public were being delayed in 2019, while inducing them to sell their shares to a private equity fund founded by Hybe executives.

The fund sold its shares after Hybe eventually went public, during which Bang is suspected of making an illicit profit of some 200 billion won, or around 146 million U.S. dollars, including 30 percent of stock sale profits from the private fund.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission(FSC) filed a complaint with the prosecution against Bang on July 16, on charges of violating a clause in the Capital Markets Act that prohibits unfair trading.