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| Marijane Biscocho is convicted on 19 charges and Lennis Ebrahim, on two counts of money laundering (File) |
A Filipina domestic helper and an Indonesian owner of employment agencies were today found guilty at the District Court on 21 various charges relating to the recruitment of Filipinos for non-existent jobs in Hong Kong and Macau.
Marijane Biscocho, 45, was convicted on 20 of the charges, ranging from offering the bogus jobs to breaching her condition of stay and money laundering.
Lennis Ebrahim, 56, for whom Biscocho had worked parttime, was found guilty on a charge of money laundering and another on a joint charge with the Filipina of wrongly accepting payment from a job applicant.
Both defendants were found to have been dishonest in giving evidence during the three years that the case was heard on and off,
according to a 50-page verdict by Judge Kathie Cheung, which was read to them
separately in Ilocano and Cantonese.
Judge Cheung scheduled their sentencing for Sept. 22. They
were returned to jail to await their fate.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Biscocho was found guilty of:
- 15 counts of wrongly accepting payment of $2,000 to $19,000 for employment agency service to place Filipinos in non-existent jobs such as waiter and factory worker in Hong Kong, as well as waiter and housekeeper in Macau.
- Two counts of wrongly claiming to their victims that Ebrahim’s two companies – WHT Consultant Company and Remy Consultant Company -- were legitimate employment agencies,
- One count of breach of condition of stay for illegally working in these companies while on a DH visa, and
- Handling proceeds of a crime, or money laundering, over a sum of $299,745 found in her Hang Seng Bank account, and another for a sum of $110,500 in an HSBC account in her name.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
Separately, Ebrahim was found guilty of money laundering in connection with a sum of $331,216 which was found in her HSBC account.
The case arose from complaints by 10 Filipino domestic helpers that they were tricked into paying an unlicensed
recruitment firm, WHT Consulting Company in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, for jobs in
Hong Kong and Macau for family and friends back home.
The total sum collected from these complainants was $77,000, but there were others who had initially joined the complaint but backed out because of job-related concerns.
When the offered jobs did not materialize and the applicants asked for their money back, Ebrahim moved to a textile
warehouse in To Kwa Wan, also in Kowloon, and put up another firm, Remy
Consultant Company, which continued offering fake jobs.
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| PRESS FOR DETAILS! |
The two were arrested by officers of the Customs and Excise Department officers, who charged them of violating the Trade Description Ordinance by offering non-existent jobs.
In today’s hearing, the
prosecution raised the possibility of asking Judge Cheung to issue a compensation
order that will require the two to pay back the money they collected from their victims.
The prosecutor also said that
while Biscocho had no criminal record, Ebrahim had two past criminal
convictions, which he did not specify.
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| BASAHIN ANG DETALYE |
This was not the first time Ebrahim
had been embroiled in illicit operations. In 2016, her employment
agency, Vicks Maid Consultant Company, was stripped of its license by the
Labour Department for overcharging a job-seeker, and for operating at a place
not specified in its license.
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PADALA NA!
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