One thing that is clear is that since BTS emerged as a global phenomenon, they are truly the gold bearers. With BTS's reputation, HYBE was able to grow from a small company with a few dozen employees into a Kpop empire with thousands of employees and dozens of subsidiaries.
Therefore, it is not strange that news was reported that one of BTS's dance instructors embezzled millions of dollars thanks to the group's reputation as well as his work at HYBE. Recently, HYBE announced the company's handling measures and official stance to resolve this case.
Here is what ̾k̾o̾r̾e̾an media reported on the morning of November 20:
Since growing into a leading large corporation in the Kpop industry, HYBE seems to be facing more internal and business-related issues than ever before. However, it was surprising that one of the people who had been with BTS and HYBE since the first days was a traitor and he caused HYBE to lose a large amount of money over a long period of time.
According to an exclusive report from IT Chosun HYBE lσst more than ₩5.00 billion KRW (about 3.86 million USD) for “Employee A”—known to be one of the core members of the company founder and is BTS's dance coach. It is known that employee A has made many contributions to BTS's career and has always shown his dedication throughout his work at вιg нιт Music for nearly 10 years. So this is surprising news for company insiders and fans.
Meanwhile, BTS's dance instructor is currently under investigation for having embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from the company budget, but also for having scammed fellow composers, choreographers, and business partners hundreds of thousands of dollars. In their scheme, Employee A is reported to have stolen HYBE’s identity, as well as using HYBE’s name to solicit investments for developing new official merchandise or discovering new songs.
As of November 17, Employee A is thought to have embezzled and scammed over ₩5.00 billion KRW (about $3.86 million USD) from HYBE and HYBE-related personnel. Not only that, this BTS dance teacher is also the person who released a lot of internal news related to the group's plans or took advantage of BTS's reputation to take advantage of others. A's behavior is still being investigated by lєgαl authorities to proceed with sentencing.
With the crimes of employee A, HYBE has since terminated the employment and sued Employee A for fraud and embezzlement. According to IT Chosun’s report, HYBE was made aware of the situation back in September and sought professional help to pursue lєgαl action against Employee A. HYBE stated: “We will show zero tolerance toward the individual who has violated the company rules and regulations. We will take all possible lєgαl action against the individual, as well as make whatever amendments necessary to prevent the same from happening again. All HYBE personnel will go through a work ethic and anti-corruption training, and all HYBE governance structures will undergo strengthening to upgrade internal monitoring and auditing processes.”
Insiders have commented that HYBE might have lacked internal monitoring and auditing processes—considering how long Employee A had been able to get away with the financial crime. Meanwhile, HYBE expressed their stance on internal operations: "HYBE strictly prohibits its employees from gaining personal benefit using non-disclosable internal information. Please beware of possible scammers using HYBE’s name, HYBE employment, and/or relationships with HYBE artists".
Meanwhile, based on the information provided in IT Chosun's report, K-Pop fans are trying to determine the identity of former Employee A. Although several names have been discussed, no one has been identified yet. What is verified in the report? However, A's act of taking advantage of BTS and HYBE was discovered and eliminated, which also made fans feel somewhat rea̾s̾sured.
