Exclusive
BBQ Chairman Yoon Hong-geun's unusual filing of 'provisional registration' following land sale contract with son sparks suspicion

[비즈한국] Genesis BBQ Group, which operates the chicken franchise BBQ, has seen its Chairman, Yoon Hong-geun, file a request with the court for a "provisional registration of a claim for ownership transfer" following a real estate transaction with his eldest son, Yoon Hye-woong, according to an investigation by Bizhankook. Generally, a provisional registration for ownership transfer is filed with the court after a real estate sales contract is signed to secure the deposit paid by the buyer to the seller. This raises questions as to why such a measure was deemed necessary between a father and son.

The site of Genesis BBQ Group's training facility, BBQ Chicken University, located at the foot of Seolbongsan Mountain in Majang-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, is owned by Genesis BBQ, Chairman Yoon Hong-geun, and his eldest son, Yoon Hye-woong (born in 1996).

A comprehensive survey of Chicken University and the surrounding land by Bizhankook revealed that out of the total site, Genesis BBQ owns 14 parcels (22,570㎡, 6,828 pyeong), Chairman Yoon owns 14 parcels (210,086㎡, 63,551 pyeong), and Yoon Hye-woong owns 5 parcels (12,729㎡, 3,851 pyeong). The total area reaches 245,385㎡ (74,229 pyeong). Of the 14 parcels held by Genesis BBQ, 9 parcels (15,831㎡, 4,789 pyeong) were purchased from Chairman Yoon in two stages in 2002 and 2005, while 2 parcels (601㎡, 182 pyeong) were confirmed to have been bought from the Chairman's wife, Kim Won-seo, in 2019. Another parcel (3,166㎡, 958 pyeong) was sold by Chairman Yoon to his younger brother, former BBQ CEO Yoon In-sang, in 2002, and was later repurchased by Genesis BBQ in 2005.

The 5 parcels owned by Yoon Hye-woong were also originally purchased by Chairman Yoon Hong-geun in October 2002, only to be sold to Genesis BBQ two months later. The company then held the land under its corporate name until July 2013, when it was sold to Yoon Hye-woong, then 17 years old, for 2,855,362,000 KRW. However, it was recently revealed through Bizhankook's investigation that Chairman Yoon Hong-geun has now signed a contract to purchase this land and has filed for a provisional registration for ownership transfer with the court.

According to the real estate register, Chairman Yoon Hong-geun and Yoon Hye-woong signed the sales contract on December 18, and the Chairman filed for the provisional registration with the court the following day. The court accepted the request, and as of December 19, the cause for registration for the 5 parcels held by Yoon Hye-woong for 12 years was recorded as "sales reservation," and "Yoon Hong-geun, holder of provisional registration" was added to the ownership status.

Generally, a provisional registration of a claim for ownership transfer is set up to secure the deposit paid by a buyer to a seller after a real estate sales contract is signed. An interpretation could be made that Chairman Yoon Hong-geun filed this to protect against the possibility of not getting his deposit (usually 10% of the sale price) back from his son, though some find this hard to believe. The land was purchased by Yoon Hye-woong for approximately 2.8 billion KRW in 2013, and its current market value is estimated at 3 to 4 billion KRW. Since the deposit is 10% of the sale price, it is estimated to be between 300 and 400 million KRW. Essentially, the Chairman has set up a provisional registration against his own son to prevent a situation where he cannot recover this deposit.

This has led to suspicions that Chairman Yoon Hong-geun may be using the provisional registration as a method for illicit gift-giving. One lawyer pointed out, "If the buyer, Chairman Yoon, requests to cancel the contract, the deposit goes to the seller, his son. In this case, since they are father and son, it effectively functions as gifting the deposit. If they receive court approval to cancel the provisional registration, it could avoid being treated as a gift. In other words, it could be a method of illicit wealth transfer."

Bizhankook sought comment from Genesis BBQ regarding this matter, but a spokesperson stated, "(The land involved in the sales contract) is merely surrounding land not included in the Chicken University site," adding, "The company has nothing to disclose regarding the private transactions of the owner family."