September 24, 2010 - THIRTY-FOUR persons, including three foreign nationals, were charged Tuesday for allegedly defrauding at least 19 jobseekers, mostly nurses, of P300,000 each, in exchange for high-paying jobs in the United Kingdom.
Charged with syndicated and large scale illegal recruitment and estafa in the Makati Prosecutor’s Office were Timothy Malcolm Sargeant, 53, and Karen Denise Wood, 38, both British nationals; Kenyan Paul Maundu Nyamai, 33, and the Filipino staff of the employment agency International Student Advisors 4U Inc. (ISA).
The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Anti-Transnational Crime Division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group during an entrapment operation in their office at Mavenue Building, Guerrero Street, Makati Avenue, Makati City.
Senior Supt. Gilbert Sosa, chief of the CIDG-ATCD, said several other officials and employees of ISA are still at large, including the owners, Philip Leonard, a British national, and his wife, Bernalyn Nacionales-Leonard.
Also named respondents were officials and employees of Faces and Shots Video Editing Inc. and Sir Philip Leonard Learning Center Inc.
Sosa said ISA, Faces and Shots Video Editing Inc. and Sir Philip Leonard Learning Center Inc. serve as one-stop shops for illegal recruitment activities of the respondents through a student visa scheme.
Under its Securities and Exchange Commission registration, the agency is only limited to providing advisory and marketing consultancy services for training college and university courses in foreign countries.
However, on their official website, the firm reportedly advertises their capability to bring nurses and health care professionals to the UK on a “Study and Work” program.
Many of the complainants said they applied for on-the-job training offered by the company because it promised big salaries as nurses and caregivers in the UK.
Each was required to pay amounts ranging from P300,000 to P650,000.
A verification with the POEA showed that the respondents and ISA were not authorized to recruit and deploy workers abroad. - Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Monday, December 27, 2010
3 illegal recruitment victims return home
April 20, 2009, MANILA, Philippines – Three Filipinas who were victims of illegal recruitment and sex trafficking in west African nation of Ivory Coast were rescued by the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) and returned to their families on Monday.
On board flight EK334 from Dubai, Abby, Rose and Marie (not their real names) arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 2 a.m., said Senator Richard Gordon, who also chairs the PNRC.
The three were recruited by Mirasol and Arnold Granada with a promise of earning as much as P 150,000 a month as cashiers in Ivory Coast, Gordon said.
But upon their arrival, their passports were reportedly confiscated in the airport, he said.
As a result, the victims were forced to work at Ilongo Bar, a night club owned by a certain Noemi Carnaje Shen, who is also a Filipina, he said.
According to Abby, her refusal to work in the night club allegedly prompted her employers to lock her inside a room without being given food. Using their mobile phones, the victims sought the help of their families, Gordon said.
The PNRC coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the immediate rescue of the three overseas workers and their immediate repatriation, he said.
Gordon said he also sought the assistance of the Red Cross Society of Ivory Coast to assess the situation and condition of the three to extend whatever assistance they needed, he said.
Immediately upon their arrival in Manila, the three victims underwent stress debriefing to avoid post-traumatic stress disorder and were given medical assistance, he said.
“The OFWs [Overseas Filipina Workers] were complaining of body pain due to some physical abuse and lack of food for several days so we immediately conducted general check-up. We also provided meals and offered them the PNRC hostel for their temporary shelter,” said PNRC Social Services Manager Zenaida Beltejar.
PNRC Social Services also contacted the three victims’ relatives.
“Welfare of our OFWs is one of the major concerns of the PNRC. We are going to extend all possible help we could provide to them especially when they are ill-treated in other countries,” said PNRC secretary general Gwen Pang. - Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net
On board flight EK334 from Dubai, Abby, Rose and Marie (not their real names) arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 2 a.m., said Senator Richard Gordon, who also chairs the PNRC.
The three were recruited by Mirasol and Arnold Granada with a promise of earning as much as P 150,000 a month as cashiers in Ivory Coast, Gordon said.
But upon their arrival, their passports were reportedly confiscated in the airport, he said.
As a result, the victims were forced to work at Ilongo Bar, a night club owned by a certain Noemi Carnaje Shen, who is also a Filipina, he said.
According to Abby, her refusal to work in the night club allegedly prompted her employers to lock her inside a room without being given food. Using their mobile phones, the victims sought the help of their families, Gordon said.
The PNRC coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the immediate rescue of the three overseas workers and their immediate repatriation, he said.
Gordon said he also sought the assistance of the Red Cross Society of Ivory Coast to assess the situation and condition of the three to extend whatever assistance they needed, he said.
Immediately upon their arrival in Manila, the three victims underwent stress debriefing to avoid post-traumatic stress disorder and were given medical assistance, he said.
“The OFWs [Overseas Filipina Workers] were complaining of body pain due to some physical abuse and lack of food for several days so we immediately conducted general check-up. We also provided meals and offered them the PNRC hostel for their temporary shelter,” said PNRC Social Services Manager Zenaida Beltejar.
PNRC Social Services also contacted the three victims’ relatives.
“Welfare of our OFWs is one of the major concerns of the PNRC. We are going to extend all possible help we could provide to them especially when they are ill-treated in other countries,” said PNRC secretary general Gwen Pang. - Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net
97 victims of illegal recruitment rescued
June 17, 2009, MANILA, Philippines—Police on Tuesday rescued 97 victims of illegal recruitment after months of being forced to stay inside a training center in Manila, a police official said on Wednesday.
Director Raul Castaneda, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the victims were rescued at Da Farmers Training Center Corporation in San Andres Bukid, Sta. Ana, where they were forced to stay while waiting for their papers to be processed.
Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, chief of the CIDG Anti-Transnational Crime Division, said the victims were brought from remote villages around the country to Manila with the promise of jobs in the Middle East particularly in Dubai, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.
The recruitment firm, Al-Alamia International Manpower Services, is owned by a certain Ma. Dolores Elanany.
"They have been in the center for several months already and have incurred lots of expenses for their documents and yet it was unclear whether their trip will push through," Sosa said.
Earlier, 22 other victims of the firm approached the police for assistance.
Police, however, failed to arrest the owner of the recruitment agency.
The rescued victims of the recruitment firm were brought to the Visayan Forum Foundation.
Castaneda said police will be filing charges of violation of Republic Act 8042 (Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995), RA 9208 (Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), and Article 315 (swindling) of the Revised Penal Code. - Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net
Director Raul Castaneda, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the victims were rescued at Da Farmers Training Center Corporation in San Andres Bukid, Sta. Ana, where they were forced to stay while waiting for their papers to be processed.
Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, chief of the CIDG Anti-Transnational Crime Division, said the victims were brought from remote villages around the country to Manila with the promise of jobs in the Middle East particularly in Dubai, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.
The recruitment firm, Al-Alamia International Manpower Services, is owned by a certain Ma. Dolores Elanany.
"They have been in the center for several months already and have incurred lots of expenses for their documents and yet it was unclear whether their trip will push through," Sosa said.
Earlier, 22 other victims of the firm approached the police for assistance.
Police, however, failed to arrest the owner of the recruitment agency.
The rescued victims of the recruitment firm were brought to the Visayan Forum Foundation.
Castaneda said police will be filing charges of violation of Republic Act 8042 (Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995), RA 9208 (Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), and Article 315 (swindling) of the Revised Penal Code. - Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net
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