7 charged with large scale illegal recruitment in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Seven people were charged with large scale illegal recruitment and estafa Monday before the Manila regional trial court for allegedly duping eight prospective overseas workers of almost P300,000. Charged were James Tan, William Sy, Marivic Ibana, James Lara, Erwin Go, Mely Lee, and Mayet Fernandez, all from BAPP’s International Manpower Inc. with an office at Paz Street in Paco, Manila. Assistant City Prosecutor Jose Yap set no bail for the provisional release of the accused. The charges stemmed from the complaints filed by Albert Santiago, Ramel Gumogda, Randy Banca, Wenceslao Santiago, Danilo Vino, Analyn Cintura, Jerlan Paclibar and Ruth Lionco. In the four-page affidavit, the complainants alleged that sometime in April 2003, respondents recruited them for employment in Taiwan as factory workers. The accused reportedly demanded charges from P16,872 to P76,600 from each complainant as placement and processing fees. Placement fees ripped from the complainants reached a total of P324,316. The complainants further said that after they have given their payments, respondents failed to actually deploy them. They also said that despite their repeated demand, the accused did not reimburse the payments they made. Large scale illegal recruitment carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. - GMANews.TV