Suspended barrister Ody Lai arrested for alleged fraud conspiracy, money laundering

Lai in a recent photo on Facebook

By The SUN

Suspended Filipino barrister Ody Lai Pui-yim has been arrested by Hong Kong police for her suspected involvement in Hong Kong’s biggest job scam that victimized hundreds of Filipino workers two years ago, and in alleged money laundering relating to the case.

Lai’s arrest on Aug. 30 at Chek Lap Kok airport where she had apparently flown from Manila, was confirmed by the Police Public Relations Bureau to The SUN earlier today.

“Upon investigation by the Regional Crime Unit of Hong Kong Island, a 56-year-old foreign woman was arrested for ‘conspiracy to defraud’ and ‘dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offense (also known as money laundering) at the Hong Kong International Airport on August 30,” a PPRB spokeswoman said in a message.

She said Lai was allowed to post bail and was told to report back to police in mid-October while the complaints against her are being investigated.

Consul Paulo Saret, head of the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section, said they had been informed about Lai’s arrest “sometime last month.”

He said that as far as he knew, part of Lai’s bail condition was that she could not travel outside Hong Kong without getting permission from the police.

Ylagan and Lai at a party in Dec 2017

Lai had left for the Philippines shortly after the arrest of her erstwhile friend and former employment agency owner Ester P. Ylagan on June 7 this year, on the same charges.

Lai is suspected of involvement in Ylagan’s alleged recruitment of about 600 Filipinos in Hong Kong, Macau and the Philippines, for non-existent high-paying jobs in Britain and Canada in 2016.

Ylagan, who used to co-own and control Emry’s, the biggest recruiter of Filipino domestic workers for Hong Kong, was accused of charging $10,000 per applicant for jobs in Britain, and $15,000 for Canada.

The two women are also suspected of involvement in the transfer of around $10 million to several countries as far apart as Malaysia, Turkey and Burkina Faso at about the same time. Documents showing the transfer were reportedly unearthed by lawyers looking into the recruitment scam, and turned over to police.

Ylagan, who fled to the Philippines after the case unraveled in mid 2016, was allowed to post bail after her arrest, but was ordered to report back to police every few months while the case against her was being investigated.

She is apparently unable to leave Hong Kong while the investigation is being carried out because the Philippine government has cancelled her passport.

Six months before her arrest, Ylagan returned to Hong Kong to file a complaint with the police against Lai for allegedly using deception to obtain a flat she owned. Lai allegedly convinced Ylagan to transfer ownership of the flat to her son, while the barrister was supposed to sell it for them to settle the job applicants’ claims.

Instead, Ylagan’s son Ridge Michael was allegedly convinced by Lai to transfer the flat’s ownership in her name so she could sell it.

“In November 2017, I asked my son what happened to the property and he told me it was transferred to Ody because he does not know how to sell the property,” said Ylagan in her complaint.

Land Registry documents show Ylagan had bought the flat with her husband in November 2000 for $2.37 million. The property was transferred in the name of their son, Ridge Michael on July 23, 2016, for $2.6 million. Then on March 20, 2017, it was further transferred to Lai for a consideration of $5 million.

Market listings at the time of the sale showed a similar flat being sold for $6.5 million.

In her complaint, Ylagan also accused Lai of advising her to hide in the Philippines and not communicate with anyone while the barrister, who was then already under a four-year suspension for malpractice, sorted out her case.

Ylagan also accused Lai of draining her Mandatory Provident Fund, on the pretext that the money would be used for her legal defense. Ylagan said she later found out that she was not provided any legal representation in her absence.

Further, Ylagan said she learned Lai had already been suspended from practicing as a barrister.

The next hearing of the consolidated claims against Ylagan and her two defunct companies, Emry’s and Mike’s Secretarial Service, is set for Oct 26 at the District Court. Claimants who have been granted legal aid are expected to seek a court order attaching the disputed Aberdeen flat to satisfy their claims.

   

Meanwhile, Consul Saret said other victims of the recruitment scam should go to ATN so they can be assisted in giving their statements to police if they have not yet done so.

Saret said the investigation is being hampered by the difficulty of locating the complainants against Ylagan so they can give supplementary statements. Many of the complainants have apparently gone home for good, or found employment in other countries. Others have simply lost interest.

So far, more than 100 complainants have already given additional statements, but at least 200 others who had filed cases at the Small Claims Tribunal are being sought. These include those who were recruited in the Philippines through their relatives or friends in Hong Kong.

2 Pinay helpers to stay in jail, will lose jobs for fighting

The two were charged in Kowloon City court

By Vir B. Lumicao

Two Filipina helpers who figured in a fight that left one scalded on Oct 1 were refused bail after being charged in Kowloon City Court on Oct 3, one with “wounding” and the other, “assault occasioning bodily harm.”

The two, Priscilla Salazar Yra and Belinda Fajardo Anastacio, got into further trouble when the lady prosecutor said their common employer was going to terminate their job contracts as a result of the fight.

Magistrate Woo Huey-fang adjourned the hearing until Oct 31 and ordered the two Filipinas to remain detained at the lady prosecutor’s recommendation.

The prosecutor said she objected to granting bail to both defendants because of the seriousness of their offenses and strong evidence against them.

She said the defendants got into a fight while arguing over work matters at around 10:30am on Oct 1 in unit F, 43^rd floor, Tower 2 at The Harbour Side, a luxury residential estate in Yaumatei. Their employers were on a holiday in Thailand then, police said.

They fought in a flat in Harbourside while
their employers were on  holiday 

The prosecutor said Anastacio, 34, slapped 48-year-old Yra in the face and the two women pulled each other’s hair.

During the struggle, Anastacio grabbed a ceramic cup and hit Yra’s right hand with it, causing redness as it broke, the prosecutor said.

In return, Yra took a kettle filled with hot water and doused its content on Anastacio, scalding her chest and left hand.

Police who responded to a report of the fight sent the two women to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where they were treated for their injuries and discharged on the same day, the prosecutor said.

She said as the helpers’ employers were intending to terminate their contracts, they would have no place to stay in Hong Kong, which was why she asked that they be denied bail.

Lawyers for the two had applied for bail for both their clients.

Yra’s lawyer said in his bail application that his client only had $80 in her wallet but could stay in her employment agency’s boarding house if granted bail.

Yra, who had been in Hong Kong since 2013, is said to have separated from her husband 14 years ago and has two daughters who are both married. One of the daughters, along with her husband and son live in Yra’s house.

On the other hand, Anastacio’s lawyer said his client could post $1,500 bail and was willing to surrender her passport and live in her agency’s boarding house.

The helper has been in Hong Kong for just two years and has a clear record. She supports her parents and children in the Philippines.

Magistrate Woo told the defendants to return after eight days for their bail review. In the meantime, she said, they must remain in custody.

Cordillerans hold memorial for typhoon victims

By Ellen Asis

The Cordillera Alliance (Corall) of Hong Kong held a prayer vigil on Ice House street on Sept 23 in memory of the victims of super typhoon Ompong in the Philippines, in particular those in the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao and Kalinga, which were among the hardest hit.

Fr. Dwight dela Torre of the Philippine Independence Church led the prayers at the vigil, which was attended by Corall members and guests from the Filipino community in Hong Kong.

Corall member Yollie Salvado shared that before Ompong (Mangkhut to the international community) hit, her group held a prayer brigade to pray for the safety of their families back home. The next day, her husband reportedly called to tell her that their house was toppled by the typhoon, but all their family members were safe. The other bad news was that they would not have electricity for two months.

Salvado said that despite the damage to their house, she was still grateful to God because her family was spared. She also happily related that her family received a free generator that would enable them to live a normal life despite the electricity cut-off.

Landslide in Keystone, Ucab, Itogon, Benguet (Photo from Facebook).

Dolores Balladares-Pelaez of United Filipinos- Migrante HK said that it is during difficult times like Ompong’s onslaught that the Filipino community is able to show its unity and willingness to help those in need.

Former Corall chair Josie Pingkihan lamented reports that blamed workers at the mine for the landslide in Lucnab, Benguet, that killed dozens of people, saying the false accusation made her cry. She said the tragedy was more the result of the illegal mining activities of the Benguet Mining Corporation that caused the mountain to collapse.

Corall ended the program by giving thanks to their  fellow members in the Filipino community who extended help and support in their time of grief.

OFWs affected by typhoon Mangkhut may get financial aid

By Vir B. Lumicao

Workers stranded at airports in the wake of severe typhoon Mangkhut have started filing their claims for the Php5,000 assistance offered by the Consulate, according to an officer of the assistance to nationals section.

Consul Paulo Saret, ATN head, told The SUN that the assistance is meant to help offset the extra cost that the workers incurred when they were left stranded by the suspension or delay of flights over the five-day period of Mangkhut’s onslaught.

Consul Paulo Saret

Saret said the Consulate has already received guidelines from the Department of Foreign Affairs on the mechanics of the workers’ assistance payout.

“Basta mag-present lang sila ng ticket, boarding pass at saka yung (arrival or departure) stamp. Ma-establish lang na na-delay sila dahil sa typhoon noong four or five days na iyon, Sept 14 to 18,”Saret said.

He said the cash assistance would be paid out in Hong Kong if the workers applied here, but the funds would still come from Manila.

Saret likened typhoon assistance to the financial aid ATN also offered for workers stranded or delayed by the belly-landing of a Xiamen Airlines plane at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in August.

He said all those who filed for claims were put in a list, along with the total amount due them, but the approval from the DFA has not yet come through, so no money was yet forthcoming.

The cash aid will reportedly come from the PhP1 billion ATN fund, from which Philippine diplomatic posts abroad draw money to help distressed OFWs and other Filipinos abroad.

PCG fails to hit OVR registration target as for 2019

The number of Filipino voters in Hong Kong who have registered at the Consulate for next year’s midterm election in the Philippines is 7,000 short of the target figure of 30,000.

This was according to Jethro dela Cruz who is in charge of the overseas voter registration at the Consulate. As of Sept. 23, or just a week before the deadline for the nine-month registration, the total figure for registrants was just over 23,000.

Registration booth at the Consulate.According to Dela Cruz, it would be impossible to reach the original target, given that the number of voters who signed up at the Consulate averaged less than 100 daily. This is despite the recent surge of Sunday registrants due to members of the Jesus Is Lord church trying to beat the deadline. 

The total number of voters in Hong Kong is, however, still the highest for any post abroad. For the presidential election in 2016, the total number of registered voters was 93, 978, although only about half actually cast their ballots.

Mid-term elections traditionally attract less interest among overseas voters as they get to choose only 12 senators and one party-list group. In contrast, voters in the Philippines get to elect all members of the House of Representatives, all regional elected positions in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and all provincial-, city- and municipal-level elected positions. 

Apart from this, the seeming lack of organized effort in Hong Kong to get more voters to register this time could also have contributed to the low overall tally.

The month-long election next year is expected to run from April 14 to May 13.

Dela Cruz said that no new voter’s IDs will be distributed as the Commission on Elections has stopped issuing them in anticipation of the proposed national ID for all Filipinos.

But there are still unclaimed voter’s IDs in the Consulate for Filipinos who registered until 2014. – Vir B. Lumicao

Overcharging agencies reported to POLO

By Vir B. Lumicao

Three Filipino domestic workers have filed complaints at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office against two Hong Kong employment agencies for alleged overcharging of fees.

Labor Attaché Nida Romulo did not name the agencies, but said she had asked the agency owners and the complainants to a meeting at the POLO in the first week of October to sort out the dispute.

Labor Attaché Nida Romulo

Romulo said two of the workers complained against one agency, and the third, against another. The complainants were accompanied to her office by Esther C. Bangcawayan, case officer of the Mission for Migrant Workers.

According to Bangcawayan, staff from the two agencies have been ringing up the complainants since learning that they had complained to the POLO. She said the unnamed two agencies were the Hong Kong counterparts of the Manila-based Spear International Manpower.

Several cases of Hong Kong agencies who have reportedly overcharged their Filipina recruits in collusion with their partners in the Philippines have been brought to the POLO’s attention in recent weeks.

The cases show a pattern in which Hong Kong agencies recruit domestic workers through their partners in Manila, charging them ridiculously high fees, then telling them to pay back through personal loans from designated lending firms.

The workers are then made to pay back the loans in monthly installments of more than half of their monthly salaries for up to four months.

In the most recent case, the helpers failed to pay back the loans on time, so the agencies started harassing them with phone calls, forcing them to seek help from the Mission and POLO.

Initial investigations revealed that the workers’ contracts had been stamped by an accredited agency although they were recruited by sub-agents, in violation of their undertaking with POLO.

In the previous cases, Labatt Romulo ordered the offending agencies to refund the workers’ money, and also suspended their accreditation for breach of their undertaking.                                                                                                                                                                                             

Dismissal of fake US$5 billion bank draft case seen to benefit other Pinoys

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The Consulate has welcomed the dropping of the charges against three Filipino male tourists accused of using a US$5 billion fake bank draft in an HSBC transaction, and says it is looking at how the case can be used to help other Filipinos in similar situations.

Elmer Soliman, Eric Jude Soliman and Eliseo Martinez walked free from detention on Sept 18, three months after their arrest on charges of using a false instrument. The prosecution told the District Court the charges against them were being withdrawn because of insufficient evidence.

Eliseo Martinez (left), Elmer Soliman (right), supporter Pieter Nootenboom and Eric Jude Soliman take a coffee break afterobtaining a visa from the Immigration.

Consul Paulo Saret said he was seeking advice from the Consulate’s legal counsel, Melville Boase, on the possible benefit that can be had from the case.

“We are consulting Attorney Boase about what advantage under the legal system in Hong Kong we can gain from the current dismissal of the trio’s case because, of course, we also want to help the others. They have already served time like these three,” he said. Four Filipinos accused of the same charge of using fake bank documents are in jail, pending the outcome of their cases.

Saret said the ATN would also seek Boase’s advice on how to request for the case details on the withdrawal from the District Court so the Consulate can report the case to Manila.

The Soliman father and son, together with Matinez, were arrested on June 25 for allegedly trying to open a bank account at the HSBC head office in Central with a US$5 billion bank draft that its owner had purportedly received as a reward from ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The three said they went to the bank to verify if the instrument was genuine, but a bank staff who they described as “overzealous” called the police. They were arrested along with two companions who waited outside the room but were later released.

The Solimans and Martinez, a lawyer, got off the hook on Sept 18 when the prosecution said after nearly three months of investigation that it did not have enough evidence to nail them on a charge of “using false instruments”. 

There are four other Filipinos separately facing a charge of “using false instruments” in the District Court in Wanchai for allegedly trying to pass off spurious money instruments as genuine in separate bank transactions in Hong Kong.

The four were arrested between Dec 9, 2016 and Apr 9 this year. All came to Hong Kong as tourists carrying questionable instruments, such as a check, bank drafts, a deposit slip and wads of traveler’s checks.

 The longest-detained defendant is 76-year-old tourist Maria Ilao Gosilatar, who allegedly tried to cash a US$50 million fake check at the Hang Seng Bank headquarters on Des Veoux Road Central on Dec 9, 2016. She was arrested along with a local male accountant on Dec 9, 2016. The man was later released.

Then on Oct 18 last year, 57-year-old Filipina tourist Elena S Orosa and her friend Veronica F Yambao, both visitors, were arrested while allegedly attempting to cash US$2 billion worth of fake bank drafts in a Hang Seng Bank branch in Tsimshatsui.

Orosa, a businesswoman, was scheduled for plea-taking in District Court on Apr 17, but her counsel said she was getting a Legal Aid lawyer and needed time for further advice.

Noel Rambuyon, 31, came to Hong Kong as a tourist with booklets of Thomas Cooke traveler’s checks denominated at US$1,000 each, or US$50,000 in total, around the Lunar New Year in February.

He was arrested while allegedly trying to cash them in a small bank in Central. He was charged with “using a false instrument” in Eastern Court. His case has been moved to the District Court.

The biggest of these false bank instrument cases involves Brudencio J. Bolaños, an elderly Filipino who allegedly tried to update his account at HSBC on Apr 9 using a US$943 billion deposit slip ostensibly issued by the bank on Jul 25, 1983.

He was arrested and charged with “using a false instrument” after he allegedly tried to convince staff the document was genuine. His Legal Aid lawyer said on Sept 4 that Bolaños was going to plead not guilty, so, his trial was set for Jan 29 next year.

HK OFWs call for sacking of lawmaker in airport rampage

The poster calling for Bertiz's ouster

By Daisy CL Mandap

Bertiz Alis!

This was the call sent out by United Filipinos (Unifil-Migrante) Hong Kong in the wake of a series of controversies involving party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III, the latest of which involved him being caught on camera berating staff at the Manila international airport.

While airport officials and his fellow lawmakers are still looking into Bertiz’s latest gaffe, Unifil-Migrante has already begun exploring ways to get him expelled from Congress.

The group’s secretary-general Eman Villanueva said several options are being considered, including calling on OFW organizations to sign a joint petition for Bertiz’s ouster, and filing a formal complaint against him with the ethics committee of the House of Representatives.

In the meantime, the group has posted a BertizAlis poster online, and has asked people to show support by sharing it on Facebook.

Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong have long distanced themselves from Bertiz, even if his ACTS-OFW party-list purports to represent them in Congress.

The alienation grew when Bertiz engaged Villanueva in a shouting match in January last year, after the latter revealed that the lawmaker owns two employment agencies in Manila.

Another poster shows the heated dispute
between Bertiz and Villanueva

A video footage of the altercation has since resurfaced on social media, prompting Bertiz to claim he has already reconciled with Unifil-Migrante. He also spun a different version of the incident.

Villanueva has disputed both claims in his own social media account and on TV.

In an interview with ABS-CBN, Villanueva said his group had not spoken with Bertiz since the incident. He also said Bertiz was lying when he claimed that he had invited Unifil-Migrante leaders to take part in the dialogue because they were staging a rally in the rain at the time.

What really happened, said Villanueva, was Bertiz had gatecrashed a meeting his group had set up with Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod who was visiting Hong Kong at the time.

Bertiz, who had merely tagged along, tried to dominate the conversation, and got mad when Villanueva accused him of not being a true OFW representative since he owned an employment agency.

The rift worsened when Bertiz, in turn, wrongly accused Villanueva of being an undocumented OFW.

Bertiz’ latest trouble arose from a video footage that went viral on Oct. 1, which showed him passing through the x-ray machine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport without taking off his shoes, in violation of security regulations.

 

Bertiz shoving his access card to the airport staff

When he was stopped just outside the machine for this breach, Bertiz shoved his access pass to the face of the airport personnel who accosted him, before snatching the man's staff ID away.

To make matters worse, Bertiz, in an attempt at an apology, said that he was having his annual “monthly period,” which provoked another outcry, especially from women who were angered by his use of their condition to explain his boorish behavior.

It was the second time he had angered netizens in as many weeks.

The previous week, he drew flak for joking that a new batch of engineers would not get their licenses because they did not know Special Assistant to the President Bong Go.

Again, this gaffe was recorded on camera.

2 Pinays held after fight leads to scalding

By Vir B. Lumicao

The fight between the two Pinays happened in this luxury estate in Yaumatei

Two Filipina helpers have been detained by police after engaging in a fight on Monday, Oct.1 that left one scalded and the other also injured, at their employer’s flat in a luxury estate in Yaumatei.

The two were sent to hospital by officers who responded to a 999 call about a fight in unit F on the 43^rd floor of Tower 2 at The Harbour Side at  around 10 am.

Their employer’s family was vacationing in Thailand at the time.

A police spokesman said the officers arrested a 48-year-old maid surnamed Salazar and booked her for wounding. The other maid, surnamed Fajardo, 34, was initially booked for assault causing bodily harm.

The spokesman said initial investigations showed that Fajardo had attacked Salazar with a bottle and the latter hit back by grabbing a pot of hot water and dousing her assailant with it. Both were sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment.

As of this writing, Salazar and Fajardo were reportedly still in detention while police continued their investigation.

The two are expected to be charged in court after the investigation.

Meanwhile, Filipina neighbors of the two said Salazar and Fajardo had been quarreling for some time but they did not know the reason.

  

Pinoys in another inclusive gathering in Shatin estate

By George Manalansan

World-Wide Gardens in Shatin is a unique neighbourhood  because of its effort to gather all its residents – whatever their nationality, work or stature in life – during periodic parties held to celebrate festive occasions.

During its annual Mid-Festival Fun Night held on Sept. 24, Filipino migrant workers were among those who joined employers and their families, as well as the estate’s staff, in taking part in the program.

Everyone was enjoined to take part in the dancing, playing of musical instruments, and singing, in which, true to form, the Filipinos excelled. All those who took part received gifts.

The security guards themselves served ice cream cups and refreshments to the residents.

Pinays won gifts and coupons in the raffle draws.

Some Pinay migrant workers won small gifts from a fun raffle draw, such as $100 coupons for chocolates, assorted gift certificates for books, and containing bath towels, rugs and other personal items. More than 300 tickets were distributed to participants.

Among the winners were Brenda Resonable who went home with luggage straos and a hair blower; Donna Dumalay and Jelli Catoloco who each got $100 gift certificates for chocolates; and Joan Reyes who won herbal drinks.

The gifts may not have amounted to much, but it was the gesture of friendship and feeling of belongingness that made the Filipinas happy.

The annual event is organized by the Incorporated Owners of World- Wide Gardens and sponsored by the Shatin District Council.

Similar inclusive gatherings are held at the estate during other special occasions like Christmas.

The fun night new Venue this year, cleared the carpark area, the barbecue area where usually held was covered by fallen trees due to Typhoon Mangkhut a week ago.