Business Crimes

The recent local news on the Boston taxi industry corruption uncovered by private agency Globe Spotlight Team clearly implies business crime involvement with very high potentials for criminal prosecutions once investigators succeed to find evidences to prove the system anomalies. (Farragher & Hohler, 2013) Boston Cab Company, which owns about 20% of the operating licensed taxis in the city, and some private cab operators have been allegedly keeping the business out of bribery and corruption. Instead of hiring regular employees to keep the operation, the cabs license or medallion owners choose to lease cabs to individual contractors. (Farragher & Hohler, 2013) The shift drivers paying overly-charged cab rents exclusive of the gas plus certain amount as bribes to get keys reportedly keep a steady good income for the cab owners. With the need to maintain employment, the cab drivers, who are mostly unemployed immigrants, become the subject of fraud exploitation dealing with payoffs and rip-offs to keep source of living. (Farragher & Hohler, 2013) The issue appears as a small-scale but profound corruption affecting mostly immigrant- drivers’ workforce.

While the drivers are abused and defrauded, usable evidence is not so easily acquired, since cab owners do not issue receipts for leased cabs. The abnormalities in the cab operating system has been taking place for years yet reports for violations or abuse are very rare. Interestingly enough, cab owners who maintain a cab license or medallion to operate the units do not undergo background checks. The chief regulator of taxi operations, police officers, and city officials do not seem to know about the issue. (Farragher & Hohler, 2013) Looking carefully at the anomaly, there is giving and receiving of certain amount of money to get a cab key for specific number of hours. The cab owners receive more rental fees and some dispatchers are also involved in receiving bribes-for-keys from drivers in need to...