BIG WIN FOR CLAIMANTS IN JOBS SCAM

by Daisy CL Mandap

  

Some of the winning complainants against Ester Ylagan are seen here 
filling out complaint forms before Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre on July 3.

Six claimants in a massive job placement scam have won claims totaling $56,000 against Ester Ylagan, co-owner of Emry’s Service Staff Employment Agency in cases heard separately in just one day at the Small Claims Tribunal on Wednesday, Aug. 31.

Claimants Ronia Maria Benalio, Be-Ann Barranco, Richiebelle Aballe, Lumen Llagas and Mary Ann Cacho, were each awarded their claim of $10,000, plus interest and costs. Another claimant, Remia Guriel, won a refund of the $6,000 partial payment she made to Ylagan.

The defendant, whose Emry’s employment agency was the biggest recruiter of Filipino domestic helpers into Hong Kong, failed to show up at any of the hearings.

A solicitor she sent to the tribunal on Aug. 29 for the hearing of the first case filed against her told the court Ylagan was in the Philippines for eye surgery. The solicitor also said Ylagan would not pay any of the claims as she was herself a victim of a scam by an unnamed business partner in Britain.

After the solicitor was told by the court that he could not represent a client at the tribunal, a former staff member of Emry’s appeared on Ylagan’s behalf on Aug. 31, but was not allowed to represent her for not giving prior notice.

In the first case, Marites R. Moreno sought the return of the $20,000 she said she paid for herself and her Philippines-based daughter Michelle for the offered jobs in Britain. The hearing of her case has been reset to Oct. 14.

The same date was set for the next hearing of a separate case filed by Elvira Balajadia and heard on Aug. 31. 

A lone case was set down for hearing today, Sept. 2, for a case filed by Roseann Tonguia, a former domestic worker who had gone back to the Philippines after being terminated by her employer. However, the court did not allow this writer, as Tonguia’s designated representative, to appear on the claimant’s behalf, but gave no reason.

Ester Ylagan airs at The SUN office

Ylagan was a no-show herself, but the case was dismissed on the basis of Tonguia’s failure to appear in court. The court said the claimant could refile the case.

Tonguia was claiming the $15,000 she said she paid Ylagan for a job in Canada. Included in her evidence were documents seized by the Employment Agencies Administration from Ylagan’s office in Worldwide Plaza in Central, which indicated Tonguia did pay the amount she was claiming.

More claims are scheduled to be heard over the next few days.

Around 500 Filipinos from Hong Kong, Macau and the Philippines had reportedly been victimized in what appears to be the biggest recruitment scandal to have hit Hong Kong.

More than 200 of them have already filed complaints with the Philippine Consulate, but more have been showing up in recent days, finally convinced that the jobs promised them did not really exist.

The complaints have been forwarded to the Hong Kong Labour Department, which began interviewing the applicants in July. The investigation is ongoing.

The Consulate, through Vice Consul Alex Vallespin, has also sought help from the Hong Kong Police, but no investigation has been commenced. However, the police accepted a complaint for deception that Ylagan had filed in July against an unknown business partner, who allegedly cheated her out of $4.2 million.

In a previous interview with The SUN, Ylagan, a 30-year veteran of the recruitment industry, had named the London-based business partner as “William Clinton James” or “William Clinton Erich”. She said she never met or seen the man, and communicated with him only via email.

The Small Claims Tribunal in Wanchai

Following the filing of complaints against Ylagan, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, suspended on June 20 the processing of domestic workers contracts by Emry’s.

On July 2, Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre recommended to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration the cancellation of Emry’s accreditation after Ylagan failed to appear at a meeting called so she could explain her side.

In their claims, all the applicants said Ylagan had offered a variety of jobs, ranging from factory workers, sales staff, hotel attendants and caregivers, in both Britain and Canada, during briefings she conducted between January and May this year.

No educational attainment or work experience was required, because the jobs that would be given them would fit their background. The offered salary was no less than 2,000 pounds, and the contract was for two years. All applicants would be flown on a chartered flight to Britain, then on to Canada for those intending to work there.

Ylagan collected $10,000 from each of those applying to go to Britain, and $15,000 from those who wanted to go to Canada.

Several applicants had paid for several people, mostly family members back in the Philippines. At least one reportedly paid a total of $50,000, for herself and four relatives.

Ylagan did not issue any receipt, allegedly because she did not want to be taxed by the Hong Kong government.

All said they were enticed to apply because Ylagan told them she was the owner of Emry’s, which was highly regarded within the Filipino community in Hong Kong. She also told them that she had 30 years of experience in the recruitment business.

All the applicants were promised that they would get their “job orders” within three months, and they could all fly out by June this year. Later, however, she told them that the deployment had been moved to October.

Had they agreed to wait until October, not one of them would have been able to file a case because both the Small Claims Tribunal and the HK Labour Department use a time bar of six months for those who file money claims or work-related complaints.