San Francisco suspends operations at Fisherman’s Wharf

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — San Francisco is barring a Fisherman’s Wharf company and its owner from participating in bids or awarding new contracts because they were charged with federal bribery, the city’s district attorney’s office announced Thursday.

Min and Hye Paik own Nick’s Lighthouse on Taylor Street. A 2023 indictment accuses them of bribing an undercover FBI agent and a port employee to secure leases on two other vacant restaurant properties in the lucrative San Francisco tourist area. The city employee initially informed his supervisor, after which the city alerted authorities and launched an investigation, City Attorney David Chiu’s office said.

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According to the city, the Paiks own Nick’s as well as other businesses that have also been suspended from doing business with the city – Wharf777 Inc. and Uri Food Inc.

Two of the couple’s nephews, Sung Ki Kim and Ihyun Jeoung, are also co-owners of Nick’s and are also affected by the suspension.

According to federal prosecutors, between May and November 2023, the Paiks allegedly paid $19,000 to an undercover agent and a port employee to negotiate leases for two additional properties at Fisherman’s Wharf.

In the lawsuit filed by prosecutors, Min “James” Paik sought to “obtain benefits not available to the general public, including special treatment by city employees in the form of access to certain port sites, preferential and more lenient treatment during the bidding process for leases, and avoidance of scrutiny by certain offices and agencies that James believed would reject his bid for restaurant space.”

On November 14, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California charged the Paiks with conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery of an agent.

Chiu said the city is allowed to suspend contractors or grantees accused of misconduct before a conviction, as was the case here. Additionally, the city will most likely terminate existing contracts entirely, he said, which is called debarment. Both suspension and debarment can last up to five years.

The Paiks’ hearing in federal court has not yet been scheduled, but court documents show the couple is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday for a status hearing.

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