Police Do Not Prosecute Lotok on Suspicion of Manipulating Membership Numbers

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The police have decided not to prosecute the legal service platform 'Lotok,' which was accused of manipulating its number of members by a lawyers' association.

According to the police on the 14th, the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency dismissed the charges without prosecution on the 31st of last month against Lotok's operator Law&Company and CEO Kim Bonhwan, who were accused of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Personal Information Protection Act.

The Korean Lawyers Association, a group of law school graduates, filed a complaint against Law&Company, CEO Kim, and five registered directors, claiming that Lotok concealed the actual scale of its membership and continued its business despite difficulties due to violations of the Attorney-at-Law Act, and that they applied for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' 'Preliminary Unicorn' status while hiding this. They also alleged that Lotok collected personal information of people who requested consultations without authorization.

The police concluded no charges, citing that the number of Lotok members matched the figures confirmed by the Fair Trade Commission and that the terms of membership registration included grounds for collecting personal information.