Taxi Union Executive Embezzling Tens of Millions in Advertising Fees... Suspended Sentence in First Trial

Embezzlement Allegations in Work
Court: "Undermines Union Accounting Transparency"
However, "Some Funds Used for Union Members' Gift Purchases"

The court sentenced an executive of the National Taxi Industry Labor Union to imprisonment on charges of embezzling tens of millions of won in advertising expenses for personal use.

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The court sentenced an executive of the National Taxi Industry Labor Union to imprisonment on charges of embezzling tens of millions of won in external advertising expenses.

On the 20th, Judge Jeong Cheolmin of the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 7 sentenced Mr. B (64), chairman of the A Taxi branch of the National Taxi Industry Labor Union Seoul Headquarters, who was indicted on charges of embezzlement in the course of duty, to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation. Additionally, he was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.

Mr. B is accused of embezzling 18,288,900 won over 37 occasions from July 2015 to May of last year. According to the court, around July 31, 2015, he received taxi external advertising revenue of 288,000 won from an advertising company into a bank account under his name and kept it, later using it for personal expenses such as living costs. It is known that Mr. B received and used amounts ranging from a minimum of 156,000 won to a maximum of 805,000 won.

Judge Jeong pointed out, “Mr. B served as the union chairman for about six years and received taxi advertising funds, which are public money, into his personal account without properly informing union members. He mixed these funds with his personal money and failed to properly record the expenditures in the union’s accounting books, thereby embezzling funds. The act was continuous and repetitive, damaging the transparency of the union’s accounting.”

However, he explained the sentencing reasoning, stating, “Mr. B confessed and reflected on his wrongdoing, and some of the embezzled money appears to have been used for purchasing gifts for union members.”

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