By Vir B.
Lumicao
A Hong Kong woman who allegedly provided two Filipina
domestic workers fake documents to support their application for work visa to
the United Kingdom
The new development led to a delay until May 6 of the sentencing
of Criselda Bantasan, 31; and Cristy Par, 47; who have pleaded guilty to a
conspiracy to use copies of the “false instruments.”
They were originally set to be sentenced today, Jan 4 at the
District Court.
“I expect that the world will be happy for another
adjournment,” Judge Li Chi-ho said after the prosecutor disclosed the arrest of
Chan and applied for a delay in the sentencing.
Only Bantasan appeared in court on Jan 4.
When the hearing got under way, the prosecutor updated Judge
Li on the developments in the case since the last hearing on Oct 4 last year.
She said the prosecution obtained further statements from Bantasan
and Par that led to the arrest of Chan.
The prosecutor said that last November, the defendants
identified Chan in a video of the alleged Hong Kong
link of a Manila-based visa scam.
Chan will be charged in Eastern Court
During the Oct. 5 hearing, defense lawyer Melville Boase
asked for an adjournment to Jan 4, saying there is a Manila-based syndicate
that offers Filipinos here spurious jobs in Britain
Boase described Bantasan as a victim who had been helping police
since day one and continues to do so to nail down the syndicate members who
conned her.
He said the single mother, who has a 13-year-old son in senior
high school, used PhP300,000 of her savings to pay a recruitment agency in Manila and Chan, for the work visa to Britain
Par’s lawyer said his client also cooperated with the police
and was willing to identify Chan, who at the time had already been arrested.
The court was told that after arresting Chan, the police
raided her flat and seized more forged documents. But Chan’s partner, a black
man named Ronnie, avoided arrest by going to the Philippines
Ronnie allegedly provided Bantasan and Par with the forged
documents, particularly the passports and bank statements of their employers, that
were believed to have been fabricated in Manila
The two women presented those documents to staff of the
United Kingdom Visa Processing Centre at Leighton Centre in Causeway Bay
Boase said at the time that Bantasan was enticed by a
Filipina helper in Hong Kong surnamed Chua to apply through the Manila agency
for a helper job in Britain that paid 1,000 pounds a month.
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