<Anchor> At the



end of last year, I alone conveyed the suspicion of embezzlement and misappropriation by the management of the food service company Kuukuu.

Partners and franchisees complained of the damage, and as a result of a police investigation, the chairman and his wife were found to have actually earned an unfair advantage of over 1.6 billion won.



Reporter Ahn Hee-jae reports exclusively.



<Reporter>



[Last November, SBS 8 News: The chairman of the famous sushi buffet Kuukuu and his wife's representative are being investigated by the police.]



Kuukuu, number one in the sushi buffet industry, operates more than 120 stores nationwide.



In November of last year, the company's chairman Kim Young-gi told SBS reporter who was covering allegations of embezzlement.



[Kim Young-ki/Chairman Kuukuu (Last November): (Embassy, ​​etc.) No.

How long do you manage franchise by fair trade, but do you get paid after trading?

No.] The



results of the police investigation, which ended in 10 months, were different.



It is concluded that Chairman Kim and his wife, CEO Kang Myung-sook, have made unfair profits over 1.6 billion won for three years since 2014 by pressing suppliers.



Instead of giving work to business partners, the chairman and his wife took up to 20% of their sales in the name of management subsidies, and some of them were found to be spent on real estate and luxury goods purchases.



It was reported that the chairman and his wife claimed that "there was no fact that the money went in and out" in a police investigation.



Chairman Kim also insisted on the phone call with SBS, "It's proud to do things fairly."



However, the police confiscated and searched the Seongnam headquarters, etc., confirmed that the funds of a 1 billion won partner company had flowed to the chairman's couple, and also secured a statement from a partner company that handed money directly to the management.




In particular, it is known that a diary-type memo to the effect that the building was built with cash received from a partner company from Kang's mobile phone was also known.



Some of the business partners insist that the chairman's criticism continued during the investigation.



[Partner officials: (Chairman Kim) says'Hey,''You', and'Man,' and they behave like a bell.

But I can't say a word.

(Last July) I filed a complaint with the Gunsan



District

Office for insults and embezzlement of public money.] The

police handed over the chairman and his wife to the prosecution for embezzlement, misrepresentation, and violation of the Tax Offender Penalty Act.



(Video coverage: Nam Nam Kim, video editing: Ki-Duk Park, VJ: Jae-min Noh)