"Providing Corporate-Level Benefits for 200,000 Won"... Class Action Lawsuit Against Company That Skimmed Membership Fees

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A company that approached small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), collected service subscription fees by claiming to provide welfare benefits equivalent to those of large corporations upon payment of a certain membership fee, and then ceased operations has been sued.

On the 14th, the law firm Wigong, representing 201 victim companies, announced that it filed a complaint with the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office against CEO Lee Mo, Vice President Ahn Mo, and Seo Mo, head of the SME Welfare Support Group affiliated with Korea Corporate Welfare, on charges of embezzling approximately 1.828 billion KRW in service subscription fees (fraud).

According to Wigong, Korea Corporate Welfare promoted its 'Todak Todak e-Welfare' service starting in 2016, claiming that if companies subscribed and paid about 200,000 KRW per person per month, they would receive welfare services worth approximately 2.9 million KRW per person monthly, funded by subsidies from local governments and others. Korea Corporate Welfare increased its subscribers by asserting that, as a government-certified business providing welfare services for SMEs, there was no issue in continuously operating the service.

However, the service became difficult to access around October last year, and since May, contact with Korea Corporate Welfare has been cut off. The victim companies claim, "Korea Corporate Welfare is not a company conducting a government-certified business, and instead of using the subscription fees for welfare services, they misappropriated funds for personal use, including purchasing part of a building located in Seongdong-gu, Seoul."

Industry insiders estimate that the actual damage amount may be larger, as the number of companies subscribed to the Todak Todak e-Welfare service reaches into the thousands.

Meanwhile, Wigong plans to file a lawsuit at the Seoul Eastern District Court against Korea Corporate Welfare, demanding the return of the damages suffered by the companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.