Taxi Driver Online

Union bosses ordered arrested in scandal

Arrest warrants were issued Friday by the Seoul Southern District Court for three senior officials of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions following their implication in a taxi drivers' welfare fund scandal.

Among the three officials is the secretary general, Kwon Oh-man, accused of accepting bribes while he was head of the Korean Federation of Taxi Workers Union starting in 1999.

Mr. Kwon is said to have received 500 million won ($500,000) in exchange for allowing a construction worker to channel more than 4 billion won of taxi drivers' funds illegally into a Gangnam reconstruction project.

According to prosecutors, two other members, Choi Yang-gyu and Im Nam-hoon, also accepted bribes for granting the same favor to the construction worker. Mr. Choi is the deputy director general with the taxi workers union, while Mr. Im is a lawmaker for the Grand National Party who heads the South Gyeongsang province headquarters of the union federation.

The person responsible for the illegal reconstruction project was arrested last month, and prosecution officials said they have confirmed the wrongdoings of the three union federation members based on his testimony and personal bank account records.

Prosecutors added that the taxi workers union officials were also given ownership of an entire floor in the reconstructed building. The floor is reportedly worth more than 5 billion won.

The taxi drivers' fund was established in 1995, following a government decision to reduce taxi drivers income tax by 50 per cent and use the deducted amount to create the fund.

Prosecutors said they will investigate allegations of another illegal funding scheme organized by the same union federation. According to prosecutors' reports, the federation has allegedly moved more than 33 billion won of governmental aid into construction of the Workers' Welfare Center in Yeouido. Construction work for the welfare center, formerly the federation's headquarters, got under way in 2002, with the 15-floor building awaiting official approval before its facilities, including a wedding hall and a health club, can begin operating.

Allegations of misappropriation by union officials first surfaced earlier this year.

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IDFIMH

Interesting

However, for many drivers it would be a case of 50 per cent of zero, which is...err...zero

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