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| The Eastern court magistrate said the case will be transferred to the District Court |
By Vir B. Lumicao
Two Filipina domestic helpers have been charged in Eastern Court Britain
Criselda M. Bantasan, 31, and Cristy C. Par, 47, appeared
before Magistrate So Wai-tak earlier today, Feb 22, charged with one count each
of “conspiracy to use copies of false
instruments.”
A duty lawyer applied for bail for the defendants, saying their employers would post the bail money, and allow them to stay in
their respective houses.
The magistrate allowed the defendants temporary liberty after posting bail of $1,000
each.
No plea was taken from either defendant, who had both been detained in Lowu detention center following their recent arrest by
officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau.
The SUN emailed OCTB to ask if there were other people
arrested in connection with the case, but has yet to get a reply.
The Philippine Overseas Labor Office, in reply to this
writer’s inquiry, confirmed that the persons identified by police as owners of
the alleged fake documents were the employers of Bantasan and Par.
A POLO official said that the employment contract of
Bantasan was processed in 2014 and Par’s contract in 2012.
Bantasan's employer, whose name appears in the charge sheet,
is Cheng Wing-ki from Laguna City in Kowloon Cavendish
Heights in Happy Valley
The charge sheet read out in court said that on April 1,
2016, Bantasan went to the UK Visa Application Centre on the 15th
floor of Leighton Centre in Causeway
Bay
Bantasan was accused of conspiring with a certain “Ms Chan”
and other unknown persons to submit copies of fake documents to UK VAC staff Lo
So-han to support her visa application.
The spurious documents, the police report said, were an ANZ
Bank statement of Cheng Wing-ki, a letter he purportedly sent to the British Consulate,
an employer’s statement, the Australian passports of Cheng and Ng Charmaine
oi-yau, and an overseas domestic helper contract between Bantasan and Cheng.
In Par’s case, the charge sheet said that on May 30, 2016,
she also submitted her application for an overseas domestic worker visa to UK
VAC staff Cheng Yau-sun.
She supported this with copies of false documents also allegedly
in connivance with “Ms Chan” and other unknown persons.
The alleged fake documents were a Dah Sing Bank statement of
Wong Wan-kee Winnie, a letter to the British Consulate that Wong had purportedly
written, an employer’s statement by Wong, her New Zealand
The report said both Bantasan and Par submitted the copies
of the documents which they “knew or believed to be false, with the intention
of inducing (Cheng and So) to accept them as genuine” and grant them a work
visa for overseas domestic helpers.
The defendants were told to appear in Eastern court again on
March 15 prior to the transfer of their case to the District Court.
