Kakao Pay and Nice Information & Telecommunication Raided

Nice Information & Communication Pays Recruitment Fees to Its Dealers
Police Investigate Whether Recruitment Fees Are Considered Bribes

Ryu Young-jun, CEO of Kakao Pay, is attending 'Kakao Pay Day 2019' held at Glad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul on the 20th, announcing key business plans. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The police conducted a search and seizure of Kakao Pay after detecting signs that it received illegal support funds from a consignment company during the franchise recruitment process.

On the 3rd, the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency secured materials related to payment service franchise recruitment and management at Kakao Pay's headquarters located in Bundang-gu, Gyeonggi Province. On the same day, the police also conducted a search and seizure at NICE Information & Telecommunication in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and obtained related materials.

The police believe that from April 2021 to December 2022, NICE Information & Telecommunication, an intermediary VAN company recruiting offline franchise stores for Kakao Pay, additionally paid some recruitment agency fees to VAN dealerships. If this suspicion is true, it would constitute illegal rebates and potentially violate the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act.

Typically, recruitment agency fees are paid by the company requesting franchise recruitment. The police are investigating whether there was any quid pro quo related to NICE Information & Telecommunication, a VAN company that normally does not have to pay recruitment agency fees, paying on behalf of others.

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