AG charges another Papa John’s franchisee in wage probe

New York’s attorney general is serving up more trouble for Papa John’s franchisees.

AG Eric Schneiderman is expected to announce charges on Wednesday against a Bronx franchisee for failing to pay minimum wage and cheating workers out of overtime pay, The Post has learned.

Abdul Khokhar, whose BMY Foods owns nine pizzeria locations and employs 300, allegedly gave workers fake names for payroll once they crossed the 40-hour threshold.

Schneiderman has been cracking down on Papa John’s and other franchisees for underpaying workers. With Khokhar, he will have brought charges against franchisees owning about 20 percent of the 126 Papa John’s in New York state.

The AG is also taking aim at the pizza chain’s parent company over allegations it allowed the wage theft to happen. The two sides are in negotiations over a possible settlement, sources said.

Holding the parent company responsible for the sins of the franchisee is a relatively new and controversial law enforcement tactic. The National Labor Relations Board in December held McDonald’s responsible for the alleged discriminatory acts of a Virginia franchisee.

Earlier this year, Schneiderman obtained a judgment for more than $2 million against Harlem Papa John’s franchisee Ronald Johnson for underpaying delivery workers.

The AG’s office also won a nearly $800,000 judgment against Papa John’s pizzeria franchisee Emmanuel Onuaguluchi, who owned six Papa John’s eateries in Brooklyn and Queens, for shorting his employees on pay — including not paying them for overtime.

Schneiderman also reached settlements in 2014 with local Domino’s and McDonald’s franchisees.