BBQ Chairman Yoon Hong-geun, Accused of Breach of Trust, Attends Second Trial

Third Trial Witness Summons Scheduled for Next Month 20th
BBQ "Unreasonable Prosecution Case... Will Be Proven Innocent"

Yoon Hong-geun, chairman of Genesis BBQ, who is accused of 'breach of trust,' appeared at the second trial on the 8th.

Yoon Hong-geun, Chairman of Genesis BBQ, is walking to Courtroom 1 at Suwon District Court Seongnam Branch on the 8th for the second trial on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust). Photo by Moon Hye-won

The Criminal Division 2 of the Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office indicted Chairman Yoon without detention in January on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust).

Chairman Yoon is accused of causing damage to the company by having Genesis, the holding company of BBQ, lend several hundred million won of company funds to his personal company J from 2013 to 2016 and failing to recover a significant amount. J is a company established in July 2013 with 100% investment by Yoon's family and is not an affiliate of Genesis or BBQ. Later, J was sold due to capital erosion and other reasons.

The investigation into former Chairman Yoon began when bhc, a competitor in the chicken industry, filed a complaint with the Seongnam Sujeong Police Station in April 2021, alleging that "Chairman Yoon caused damage by lending about 8.3 billion won of company funds to a personal company unrelated to BBQ."

After investigating for over a year, the police decided not to prosecute in July last year, but bhc appealed this decision in August of the same year. The prosecution, which took over the case, reinforced the investigation and judged that Chairman Yoon was guilty of breach of trust, sending him to trial.

The Genesis BBQ Group responded by stating, "This is an unreasonable prosecution case with no actual victims, no damage amount, and no social damage, arising from a competitor's slanderous accusation," and added, "It will be proven innocent through legal procedures in the future."

The third trial will be held on the 20th of next month at 4 p.m. with witness summons.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.