Former Contract Public Official Who Withheld Half of Seasonal Workers' Wages Sent to Prosecutors

Changwon District Prosecutors' Office Masan Branch.

A former contract public official who embezzled half of the wages of seasonal agricultural workers was caught and handed over to the prosecution.

According to the Changwon Immigration Office in Gyeongnam on the 1st, Mr. A, in his 50s, is suspected of taking about half of the wages of 138 Filipino seasonal workers who helped with farm labor during the busy farming season.

From April to September 2022, he worked as a contract public official at Geochang County Office, responsible for managing the wages of foreign workers.

At that time, Mr. A paid only 820,000 KRW out of the monthly wage of 1,560,000 KRW to the foreign workers and embezzled the remaining 740,000 KRW as a brokerage fee.

During the police investigation, it was revealed that Mr. A obtained signatures from foreign workers on both a standard labor contract stating a wage of 820,000 KRW and another standard labor contract without a wage written, and arbitrarily wrote the monthly wage as 1,560,000 KRW to invite seasonal workers.

To embezzle part of the seasonal workers’ wages, he also managed the wage bank accounts himself and deceived them by claiming the wage was 820,000 KRW.

Among the 138 people invited by Mr. A and others, 15 absconded from their workplaces without permission, and the immigration office caught 8 of them and ordered their deportation.

Mr. A was sent to the Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office Masan Branch without detention for violating the Immigration Control Act, and Mr. B, a Filipino in his 50s who conspired in the crime, is currently wanted.

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