A legal battle to rid Freedom Taxi of one of its owners is hitting the cab company and its drivers hard, as "New York Taxi King" Evegeny "Gene" Freidman allegedly diverted more than $1.6 million meant for the Philly-based company's coffers and its employees' paychecks into his own accounts, according to a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia.
Everett Abitbol splits ownership of Freedom Taxi – distinguished by its maroon and light blue colored vehicles – with Freidman, who is accused of misappropriating the funds from the shared company as his cab operations faced financial trouble in New York.
In a civil lawsuit filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Please, an attorney for Abitbol says Freidman created "ghost driver" accounts with the credit card processing company that provides payroll cards, essentially prepaid debit cards, to those drivers who opt to receive their paychecks this way.
Read more about the suit and alleged "ghost driver" accounts at PBJ.com
