Prosecutors decided not to indict former Yakson House head A on charges of coercing franchise owners to agree to fee hikes. The franchisees objected to the decision and said they would file a complaint against the prosecutors in charge for the crime of legal distortion and also submit a request for adjudication to the court.
On the 11th, according to legal sources, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 7 (chief prosecutor Cho Yoon-cheol) decided on the 8th not to indict A on charges including coercion, citing lack of evidence.
In 2019, A was accused of coercing Yakson House franchise owners to sign a consent form to raise fees for "incubating consulting." The fee had been 2%–12% of existing sales, but the company was found to have pushed a plan to raise it to as high as 15%.
There were also allegations that the company switched branch directors' training, which had been provided free of charge, to a paid program costing 1 million won per session and pressured franchise owners to agree. After receiving the franchisees' complaint, police referred A to prosecutors on coercion charges on the 23rd of last month.
However, prosecutors determined that the evidence against A did not rise to the level of criminal liability. In response, the franchisees said, "We plan to file a complaint against the prosecutors who issued the non-indictment decision for the crime of legal distortion."
The crime of legal distortion is a provision that punishes judges handling criminal cases, prosecutors, police, and others who distort the law to give someone illegal or improper benefits or to harm another person's rights and interests. It is set out in Article 123-2 of the Criminal Act, and the statutory penalty is up to 10 years in prison and up to 10 years of disqualification. The provision has been in effect since Mar.
The franchisees also plan to file a request for adjudication with the court to challenge the non-indictment decision. A request for adjudication is a procedure by which a complainant who finds it difficult to accept a prosecutor's non-indictment decision asks the court to reconsider whether to indict.