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| Ylagan by the Niagara Falls in Canada, where she allegedly offered inexistent jobs to Filipinos |
by The SUN staff
Missing employment agency owner Ester Ylagan has been sued
for fraud in the Philippines
by four of her alleged victims, while illegal recruitment charges against her
are being readied.
This was according to Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre, who
disclosed that seven or eight other recruits of Ylagan have been
interviewed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Admininistration, which could
charge her with massive illegal recruitment.
Separately, an officer of the Consulate said a list of
Ylagan's alleged victims in Hong Kong has been furnished to the Philippines '
Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, which looks into human trafficking
cases.
Vice Consul Alex Vallespin who heads the Consulate's
assistance to nationals section said it would appear that Ylagan was still in
the Philippines
based on Bureau of Immigration records.
Ylagan was shown to have entered the country shortly after
her apparent scam was uncovered in Hong Kong
in June last year. But since there was no arrest warrant or hold departure
order against her, she managed to get in and out of the country freely.
About two weeks ago, Vallespin told The SUN that Labatt Dela
Torre sent the ATN a memorandum inquiring about the whereabouts of Ylagan.
Vallespin said ATN replied also in a memo, that as early as
August last year, when news of the scam broke out, he had asked IACAT executive
director Darlene Pajarito about whether Ylagan was in the Philippines.
“We told her we had information that Ylagan returned to the Philippines and
asked (Pajarito) to confirm the report. She confirmed it, and reconfirmed to me
again this year, that Ylagan’s last departure from the Philippines was
July 10 and last arrival was Aug 4,” Vallespin said.
The immigration bureau in the Philippines is now on the watch for
Ylagan just in case she tries to slip out of the country, he said.
Meanwhile, Labatt dela Torre said the four victims recruited
in La Union had filed a single case against Ylagan at the Regional Trial Court
in San Fernando City
He said POEA investigators had sought out the other victims
in three regions, including Mindanao, based on information provided by their
relatives in Hong Kong .
“POEA is now interviewing the victims,” Dela Torre said.
“Basta ibinigay ko ang mga pangalan,” (I just gave their names), he said,
adding that the cases are now with POEA's Anti-Illegal Recruitment
Branch for possible prosecution.
Ylagan was accused by about 200 other OFWs based in Hong
Kong and Macau of duping them last year with offers of non-existent jobs in Britain and Canada for which they each paid
$10,000 and $15,000, respectively.
Ylagan was part owner of Emry's Service Staff Employment
Agency, which used to be the biggest recruiter of Filipino domestic workers for
Hong Kong . But for the bogus jobs offer, she
used Mike’s Secretarial Services Inc., which was listed solely in her name.
Ylagan has snubbed all tribunal and court hearings since Aug
29 last year of the cases filed by victims against her and Mike’s Secretarial
after her failure to deliver on the promised jobs in Britain
and Canada .
Before she disappeared, she filed a complaint with Hong Kong
Police, claiming an unknown business partner in Britain had cheated her of $2.4
million. The case was cited by officers at the Central Police station in
rejecting several attempts by Ylagan’s applicants to file a complaint for fraud
against her.
The Small Claims Tribunal heard a total of 129 cases then
transferred them to the District Court for consolidation. The tribunal heard
the last batch of 72 more cases on Aug 28, but these are also expected to be
moved to the District Court before the year ends.
The District Court heard the initial batch of cases on July
7 but neither Ylagan nor her legal representative from the law firm Wong &
Co, which she claimed to have engaged to appear for her, failed to show up.
Ylagan also snubbed twice the scheduled hearings of 23 cases
of overcharging filed against her and Mike’s Secretarial at the Eastern Court by
the Hong Kong Labour Department’s Employment Agency Administration.
