The SUN HK

2 Pinay staff of rogue agency arrested as Customs joins probe

Posted on 12 November 2019 No comments

By The SUN

Complainants say they were charged between $7k-$12k for the fake jobs

Two Filipina staff of an unlicensed employment agency allegedly recruiting OFWs for nonexistent jobs in Hong Kong have reportedly been arrested by Customs officers for suspected unfair trade practices.

The Customs and Excise Department announced the arrests of the two women, aged 42 and 54, in a press release on Nov 7 but did not identify them, or the company they were working with.

But some of those who complained against the alleged job scam told The SUN that those arrested were Mary Jane Biscocho and Nympha Lumatac, both domestic workers who used to work for Lennis Ebrahim, owner of the unregistered WHT Consultant Company.

The two were arrested for making false claims to customers that the company they were working for was a licensed employment agency and “the relevant application procedures had been carried out accordingly.”

The 42-year-old woman was said to be still in custody while the other was released on bail pending further investigations.

There has been no word on Ebrahim, who is alleged to be the ringleader.

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All three are being investigated separately by the police and the Employment Agency Administration for fraud and illegal recruitment based on the complaints of about 100 jobseekers.

One of the complainants said she and her co-applicants had already been asked by the EAA to identify the WHT suspects in a photo lineup. Another source put the number of those who have already made a statement to EAA at 25.

The complainants accused the three of collecting between $7,000 and $12,000 for jobs as drivers, gardeners and other positions in Hong Kong and Macau since last year.

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One of them, Nancy (not her real name), said that in her recent chat with Ebrahim, the latter promised to refund her $6,000 down payment this month.

“Last po na naka-chat ko si Lennis, sabi niya ire-refund niya yung perang nai-down ko sa kanya this mid-November. Hanggang ngayon wala pa rin at di ko na siya makontak. Buti naman po sana mahuli na si Lenis,” Nancy said.

Some of the complainants claimed to have paid more than the indicated fees as they applied for several relatives back in the Philippines.

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Nancy said one of her friends was asked by Biscocho and Lumatac to pay a total of $16,000 as down payment for jobs as a waiter for her husband, as helper for her sister, and as factory worker for her brother.

All of the promised jobs never materialized.

Ebrahim used to own Vicks Maid Consultant Co., which was convicted and its license revoked by EAA for overcharging a jobseeker in July 2015.

The complainants reportedly decided to also seek help from Customs as EAA was not acting fast enough on their complaints. On top of this, Customs has arresting power while EAA can only file a case in court.

In its press release, Customs reminded traders to comply with requirements of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO) and consumers to procure services only at reputable shops.

Any trader who applies a false trade description to a service supplied to a consumer commits an offense punishable with a maximum fine of $500,000 and five years in jail.

Customs urged the public to report any suspected TDO violations to its 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

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Christmas cookies to light up the season

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By The SUN

Image may contain: 13 people, including Gail Camaya Hills, people smiling, people sitting and indoor

Gail Camaya-Hills (center, in yellow) with the first batch of trainees

Christmas is just around the corner, and what better way to prepare for it and dispel some of the protest-related gloom in Hong Kong than by whipping up goodies that remind us that this is a season for cheer and good tidings?

This was what Pintura Circle President Abigail Camaya-Hills had in mind when she decided to give free lessons on baking Christmas cookies and making Christmas accessories for two successive Sundays this month.

“Christmas is coming and since Pinoys love homemade food, it made so much sense to offer this as a source of livelihood,” she said. “This is something anyone can do, even a beginner.”

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On Nov. 10, about 30 Filipina domestic workers joined her cookie-making lesson at the Consulate’s Sentro Rizal room. Most of them had so much fun they were looking at also joining the Christmas decoration workshop on the next Sunday, Nov 17.

Not having access to an oven did not hinder Camaya-Hills and her two helpers, Vemma and Jerly, from teaching the participants how to make the dough, then with the use of moulds, cut them out into Christmas shapes like a star, a bough and Santa.

These pre-cut cookie moulds the participants were allowed to bring back home with them to bake and decorate.

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To move on to the next lesson of making cookie icing and using this to decorate their cookies, the ever-resourceful and generous trainor pulled out bags of butter cookies already baked to perfection for the participants to work on.

And this they did, turning the cookies into bright stars or boughs with green, yellow and red trimmings, or of Santa Claus in his jolly red suit.

Decorating the cookies in Christmas colors

Camaya-Hills said about 70% of the participants were beginners, but by the end of the lesson, everyone looked confident enough to put what they learned to good use.

One who confessed to having just handled an electric mixer for the first time in her life was confidently kneading and shaping her cookies in no time.

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Many initially said they signed up for the lesson to see if they could use it in starting a baking business back home. But once they saw how pretty and tasty the cookies turned out, they began having other ideas.

“Pwede nang pang-regalo sa amo at baka magka Christmas bonus,” said one, only half-jokingly.

It was this show of selflessness and generosity of spirit that gave Camaya-Hills a different kind of fulfillment at the end of the whole-day session.

“It was admirable that a lot of them were excited to bring the decorated cookies (and the cut cookies that have yet to bake home) to their alagas to share and show off. That is true Filipino generosity – and showed how much their love their alagas - parang anak na nila!”

For the next lesson, Camaya-Hills will be teaching participants how to make Christmas table runners and fashion accessories and tree trimmings made of crystal. Again, for free, in keeping with this season of giving.

Christmas Cookie Recipe:

Image may contain: one or more people, people sitting, table, food and indoor

Decorate your Christmas cookies as you please

Ingredients (For the cookies):

3 & ¾ all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ sugar (if brown, use 1 cup only)

2 eggs (duck eggs give a better flavor)

125 gms of unsalted butter (or ½ of a block of butter)

2 tsps vanilla extract

Procedure:

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside
In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar and melted butter. Pour the vanilla extract onto butter/sugar mix. Beat one egg at a time until the mixture is smooth.
Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the buter, sugar, vanilla and egg mixture. Keep mixing by hand until all the ingredients are absorbed. Put in a plastic bag or cover with muslin cloth and chill for two hours.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (or 400 degrees F)
Grease cookie sheets in the cookie tray.
Put flour on a clean surface, and using a rolling pin, take out small portions of the chilled dough. Roll out dough into 1/4 inch thick.
Dip the cookie cutters into a bowl of flour and cut dough to the desired shapes.
Arrange cut dough on baking trays and bake for 10-12 minutes, checking regularly if done.
When done, cool them on a metal rack
Put desired Christmas decoration on each cookie using the cookie icing

For the Cookie Icing:

Ingredients:

¾ cup icing sugar

2 tsps water

3 drops of food coloring (preferred colors are white, yellow, green and red)

Procedure:

Mix icing sugar with water until it peaks. Put 2-3 drops of food coloring until you get the desired color
Put the icing mix in plastic piping. Cut the plastic piping very thinly so only a thin line of icing comes out
Decorate the cookies as you desire.

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Filipina volleyball player linked to drug parcel case

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Filipina helper is on trial at High Court
for accepting the drug parcel

Filipina maid Analyn de Leon was a last-minute consignee of a drug parcel sent by a man from Africa in May last year, the High Court was told on Friday, Nov 8. The original recipient was said to be an African man, then a Filipina helper who played volleyball.

This emerged at the re-trial of De Leon, who is charged with trafficking in a dangerous drug for taking delivery of the shipment, sent to her employers’ flat in Yoho Midtown, Yuen Long.

De Leon pleaded not guilty to the charge on the second day of her trial before Judge Amanda Woodcock of the Court of First Instance.

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The court heard that De Leon was arrested on May 4 last year after she received the parcel delivered by an officer posing as a DHL man to her employer’s flat.

The parcel contained 237 grams of methamphetamine or what is commonly called “ice,” valued at $334,530. It was declared to contain dried plums and was posted in Cotonou, Benin.

Prosecutor Ken Ng said that phone calls, emails and Whatsapp messages found on the helper’s cell phone indicated the Filipina was a last-minute recipient of the parcel.

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The package was originally addressed to one Burnett Mobuka Oguye at a unit in Mirador Mansions, Tsimshatsui. An officer posing as a delivery man tried to deliver the parcel to the address on Apr 24 but staff in the guesthouse said no such person lived there.

The next day a man who identified himself as Burnett called the Customs hotline asking why the parcel was not delivered and arranged a delivery that night. But the man called again later that day saying he would not be available.

Later on, a man called Customs and asked that the parcel be delivered to another address and would be received by a woman named Adelaida. But on the date arranged for the delivery, Adelaida was said to have traveled to the Philippines.

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The witness said as the parcel was still undelivered, the sender sent a message requesting a change of consignee and gave De

Leon

’s name and her employer’s address.

The officer said she called up De Leon on May 2 to arrange a delivery on May 4. The witness said that after the maid signed the receipt and took the parcel, she arrested her.

In a video interview played back in court, De

Leon

said she met Adelaida, also a helper, three months before a one-day volleyball league at Fa Hui Park in Mongkok.

She said Adelaida asked her on a Friday before the league to receive a parcel for her because she would be in the Philippines for a month. She said she agreed.

De Leon will continue giving evidence tomorrow, Nov 12. – Vir B. Lumicao

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Filipina denies stealing $1k from barrister employer

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By Vir B. Lumicao

Robinion's trial will resume on Nov 24 in Eastern Court

A Filipina maid has denied stealing $1,000 from her barrister employer, then using the money to top up her Alipay account.

Lady Lynne Robinion, former helper of barrister Joey Yuen, took the witness stand on Nov. 8, the second day of her trial at Eastern Court.

Robinion told her lawyer Helen Ki that the money she used to top up her Alipay account on the day police arrested her was a loan from her fellow helper.

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The maid said she opened the Alipay account in May this year as a more convenient means of sending money to her mother and her children in the Philippines.

However, Yuen said in her testimony earlier that she had given the $1,000 to her other helper, Rose Suarez, to put in a deposit box in the maid’s room

Robinion said she was hired by Yuen in March 2018 to cook, clean the house and look after the employer’s six-year-old son.

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“I clean the flat and do most of the work because the other helper focuses on my employer’s daughter,” said Robinion.

She said her relationship with her ward and male employer was good.

On the day Yuen told the maid that her money was missing, Robinion said she knew nothing about it. When the police came and asked her about the money, she said she began to cry.

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During cross-examination by the prosecution lawyer, Robinion got confused when asked about details of her remittances to her mother and children.

When asked how much of her monthly salary she was sending to her mother, she said $2,000 to $3,000. The amount goes to paying for her children’s needs, rent of Php6,000, house expenses and bills.

The rent was $600 to $700, she replied when asked how much would rent be in Hong Kong dollars. In total, she said, her monthly remittance was Php15,000 to Php18,000.

But when the prosecutor asked her how many times she sent money to her mother and children through Alipay from March to July this year, she admitted it was about 20 times.

Robinion was the only defense witness and the last to testify in court during the trial presided by Magistrate Vivian Wong.

Yuen and Suarez both gave evidence on the first day of the trial on Oct 24.

Wong adjourned the trial until Nov 29, for the continuation of the prosecutor’s cross-examination of Robinion.

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