By Vir B. Lumicao
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| Ylagan in photo taken after her return to HK in Dec 2018 |
Former recruitment agent Ester P. Ylagan, who is accused of collecting
millions of dollars from about 500 Filipino job applicants, has gotten away from
23 charges of collecting excessive commission
when labour prosecutors withdrew the charges against her.
Magistrate Peter Yu Chun-cheung approved the dropping of the
charges at the request of prosecutors when the case was heard at Eastern Court
The prosecutors said that they had decided to
withdraw the charges “to avoid jeopardizing possible action to be taken by the
police”.
A statement sent by the Labour Department to The SUN said
Ylagan had been arrested by the police for suspected involvement in more
serious offences arising from the alleged job scam, and had subsequently gone
bankrupt.
The cases stemmed from complaints filed in mid-2016 by about 200 Filipino job applicants from Hong Kong, Macau and the Philippines, who claimed to have paid Ylagan between $10,000 and $15,000 each for non-existent jobs in Britain and Canada.
The cases stemmed from complaints filed in mid-2016 by about 200 Filipino job applicants from Hong Kong, Macau and the Philippines, who claimed to have paid Ylagan between $10,000 and $15,000 each for non-existent jobs in Britain and Canada.
Outgoing Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre deplored
labour’s action, saying the withdrawal of the cases filed by the Employment
Agency Administration sends a chilling message that the interests of foreign
helpers here are not Hong Kong ’s concern.
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| Outgoing Labatt says the dropping of charges sends 'chilling' message |
“The EAA’s decision sends a chilling message to the community of 340,000 foreign domestic helpers—that your interests and the need to protect them are not our (
“This flies in the face of
the oft-repeated exhortation that foreign domestic workers are important to Hong Kong . In this case, the EAA seems to be telling the
community they are not important,” Dela Torre said.
Consul Paulo Saret, head of
the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section, said they will now press Hong Kong justice officials to speed up the filing of
fraud and money laundering cases against Ylagan.
Ylagan, along with her solely owned company, Mike’s Secretarial
Services, was originally charged by the EAA with 23 counts of “receiving payment other than the
prescribed commission” under the Employment Ordinance.
Ylagan also co-owned Emry’s Service Staff Employment Agency,
which at the time of the filing of cases against her, was the biggest recruiter
of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong .
More than 200 of her alleged victims had sued her in the
Small Claims Tribunal in August 2016 to get back their money. About a dozen had
won their claims, until the Tribunal decided to consolidate the remaining cases,
and passed them on to the District Court for adjudication. They have remained
there since. (https://www.sunwebhk.com/search?q=ester+ylagan)
Ylagan pre-empted the filing of complaints against her by
going to the police in May 2016 to say that she herself had been a victim of a Britain-based
job recruiter. She claimed she had lost $4.2 million to this recruiter, which included
money paid her by her applicants, in effect admitting she had violated the law against
overcharging.
But it was only in June this year that police arrested
Ylagan on suspected fraud and money laundering, along with her former friend
and adviser, suspended barrister Ody Lai.
Police say the cases against the two have already been
elevated to the Department of Justice for evaluation and possible prosecution
in court.
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