[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] The Financial Supervisory Service will launch the highest level of sanctions against Kakao Mobility, which is suspected of inflating sales.

The Financial Supervisory Service sent Kakao Mobility a preliminary notice of action on the results of its alleged accounting fraud (violation of external audit laws) on the 22nd. The notice is a procedure in which the FSS informs the company of the plan in advance before presenting it to the Supervisory Commission.

This includes the determination criteria and grounds for judgment set by the Financial Supervisory Service, which reportedly applied the "first stage on purpose," which is the highest determination standard to Kakao Mobility. Kakao Mobility Corporation will be charged with fines and prosecution. CEO Ryu Geung-min and former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Lee Chang-min will also be recommended to dismiss him, suspend his duties for six months and file a complaint with the prosecution.

The final sanctions against Kakao Mobility and its management will be finalized after deliberation and voting by the Board of Audit and Inspection and the Securities and Futures Commission.

Kakao Mobility is suspected of overestimating sales of 3,000 billion won in the accounting process. Kakao Mobility received 20% of the taxi fare as a kind of fee through its subsidiary KM Solution. Since then, the company has returned 16 to 17 percent of its sales on the condition that it participates in advertising and marketing to businesses that have signed a business partnership contract.

The Financial Supervisory Service believes that only 3 to 4 percent of the fares that eventually fall into the hands of Kakao Mobility should be recognized as Kakao Mobility sales, and believes that the problem is that it set 20 percent of the fare as sales. In addition, the inflated amount is estimated to account for half of the total sales. The industry has also raised suspicions that it may have such a contract structure to inflate corporate value ahead of the Initial Public Offering (IPO).

[ⓒ 알파경제. 무단전재-재배포 금지]