NBI nabs illegal recruiter for swindling applicants of P1M

MANILA, Philippines – Government agents arrested on Wednesday a suspected illegal recruiter accused of swindling 15 job applicants of some P1 million. The suspect – Alejandro Corpuz Leveriza Jr. of Bradford Street in Fairview, Quezon City – allegedly set up a travel agency, Shelissa Travel & Tours & Consultancy, to dupe prospective overseas workers, according to National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Nestor Mantaring, who gave a press conference on Friday. The agency hold office on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. His wife, Melissa Samaniego, alias Melody Leveriza, was able to elude arrest. Mantaring said the couple managed to entice prospective overseas workers by claiming that they were able to send several job applicants for employment in places like Dubai and Macau. The investigation was conducted by the Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTRAD) under head agent Ferdinand Lavin. The NBI made the arrest following the complaint of Charmaine Patricio and her relative, Marcellini Patricio. The Patricios said that the suspects promised them work in Canada as nurses. The suspects collected from them P156,000 as processing fee and P175,000 , respectively as payment for placement fees. The suspects demanded from Charmaine the title of a lot owned by her parents as part of the requirements of processing of her visa for Canada. Charmaine later on discovered that her parents’ Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) had been cancelled and transferred to suspect, Melissa Samaniego. When confronted, she promised her to return it to the real owner. Sensing something wrong, the complainants sought the help of Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, who then endorsed them to the NBI. In a Jan. 28 entrapment,the Patricios, along wtih other complainants, agreed to meet Alejandro Leveriza, purportedly to pay his fees, at a coffee shop at the SM North in Quezon City. Leveriza had just received marked bills amounting to P10,000 from Charmaine when NBI operatives posted nearby approached and arrested him. NBI investigation also revealed that the job seekers who had been sent earlier to Macau by Leveriza and Samaniego ended up jobless in the former Portuguese colony and returned to the country. Charges of illegal recruitment under the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (RA 8042 and estafa under the Revised Penal Code have been filed against the suspects. Leveriza is detained at the NBI headquarters in Manila. - GMANews.TV