San Francisco Seafood Restaurateurs Suspended Pending Bribery Charges by City Officials
The owners of a famed San Francisco seafood spot have found themselves in hot water as city officials clamp down on alleged corruption. The City Attorney's Office, led by David Chiu and Port Executive Director Elaine Forbes, has dropped the hammer on Nick’s Lighthouse restaurant owners Min Paik and Hye Paik, suspending them along with affiliated businesses and individuals from city contracts amid serious bribery charges.
According to a statement on the City Attorney's website, the Paiks had the audacity to allegedly grease the palm of a Port employee and an undercover FBI agent to the tune of about $19,000. Their goal? To secure leases for prized properties on Fisherman’s Wharf. The scheme, however, was short-lived as the Port employee turned whistleblower, bringing the matter to their superiors and, ultimately, law enforcement.
"The City has no interest in contracting with corrupt businesses attempting to circumvent our fair bidding processes," City Attorney Chiu said in the statement. Port Executive Director Forbes echoed the sentiment, underscoring the waterfront's intended role as an even playing field, not one muddled by backdoor deals and unfair advantage.
The net of suspension covers not just the Paiks but also their nephews, Sung Ki Kim and Ihyun Jeoung and entities such as Wharf777, Inc. and Uri Food, Inc. This comes in the wake of charges involving conspiracy to commit bribery lodged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. The allegations have set the stage for a comprehensive blockade against the contractual participation of those accused, effectively barring them from the city's procurement processes. After the legal dust settles, the city plans to pursue debarment, which could ban the Paiks and company from city contracts for up to five years.
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