Five Filipina maids have sought the Consulate’s help in recovering huge sums they claim to have paid for purported jobs in Canada, in what appears to be another scam targeting Hong Kong-based overseas Filipino workers.
Three of them, who requested anonymity, went to the office of Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre on July 10 and 17 and filed affidavits to support their claims for a refund against Charisse Cruz and/or Judith Ga.
They all told de la Torre that Cruz and Ga appeared to be the same person.
Two of them disclosed a link between the Ontario-based recruiter and Joyce Agency, an employment agency in Tsuen Wan that was padlocked last year by the Labour Department for overcharging an applicant.
Claimant “A” said she paid Cruz a total of $30,000 in two remittances through WEstern Union. She said she addressed the payments to Ga, allegedly the designated recipient of all payments.
Claimant “B” paid a total of $34,434 to Cruz via Ga in tranches that carried over from a $20,000 she had originally paid Joyce Agency for a supposed Canadian job that never materialized. The payments were made between Nov 6, 2014 and April 25, 2015.
Claimant “C”, who said she was also contacted by Cruz after being referred by Joyce owner Fe Cheung, was claiming $40,000 that the Ontario-based recruiter charged her on various dates between November 2014 and May 2015.
Labatt De la Torre, who personally took the statements and prepared the affidavits of each of the claimants, said he would send a copy of the affidavits to the POLO in Ontario and ask for the post’s help in locating Cruz/Ga.
The last two of the group were set to go to the POLO on Aug 7 to execute their affidavits. One of them told The SUN she had received an initial refund of CA$1,000 from Cruz which, per instruction of the recruiter, she would have to split with the other applicant.
“Cherisse promised to make weekly partial refunds of CA$1,000, but that was just once and since then she has not responded to SMS messages,” the claimant said.
The claimants came to know Cruz separately through different connections, but one said it was Fe Cheung who referred her to Cruz after failing to refund the $20,000 paid by the job applicant for a promised employer in Canada.
The claimant said she made the payment to Cheung in November 2014, and two weeks later, was told that she already had an employer.
But despite repeated follow-ups, the promised job never materialized. In December 2014 Cheung told the applicant that Cruz would contact her about her application.
A month afterwards, Cheung sent Cruz’s telephone number and the applicant and the recruiter talked for the first time.
Cruz allegedly told the claimant that of the $20,000 she had paid Joyce, only $13,000 was remitted by Cheung and that the applicant needed to pay a total of $40,000.
That’s when the money flow to Canada started, with Cruz making excuses for the delay in obtaining a Labour Market Opinion for the claimant, and appeasing her with “konting tiis” and “be positive”.
On June 9, 2015, the news from Cruz was Canada was tightening up on job sponsorships and that she was “trying to get all applications to be approved before they close any sponsorship.”
After that, Cruz stopped replying to the claimants’ inquiries.
