Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Tuesday that his office has filed criminal charges against the owner of West Coast Maids, an online maid service, for allegedly over-charging the credit cards of customers as punishment for writing negative online reviews.

Steve Yojin Yun, 42, owner of West Coast Maids and California Maids, was charged with seven counts of identity theft for violations on four separate victims. Arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 26 in Los Angeles Superior Court. If convicted, Yun could face up to seven years in jail and up to $7,000 in fines.

An investigation was conducted by the Consumer Affairs Department after receiving complaints from victims who had retained maid services through Yun’s firms since January 2013. When the victims posted negative reviews on Yelp, some claimed they were contacted by an alleged office manager who asked that the negative review be removed in exchange for a complete refund.

If the customer did not comply, their credit cards allegedly were charged again. The office manager also threatened some customers that he would post negative online comments on their employer’s website, the city attorney’s office claimed.

“This kind of (harassment) has become an issue, but this is one case where a line has been crossed,” said a spokesperson from the city attorney’s office. “It is our hope that the prosecutor will send a message to the public that these strong armed tactics will not be tolerated if a business owner decided to go down this path. It’s a criminal act and we will treat it as such.”

The spokesperson added that if a plea deal was reached in Yun’s, they would have provisions in that deal that would ensure this type of alleged practice doesn’t continue.