By Daisy CL Mandap
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| A photo of Nicdao posted online by one of the complainants |
A Filipino claiming to be a driver in Hong
Kong has been accused of fleecing domestic workers and employers
alike of tens of thousands of dollars in the guise of helping them process
employment contracts for less pay.
The complainants have named the alleged scammer as Alejandro "Alan" Sayao Nicdao in complaints they have filed with the Philippine Consulate,
Employment Agencies Administration, and the police.
Ann, who gathered about 10 of the complainants, said they
have already been interviewed by officers of the assistance to nationals
section of the Consulate and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office. They have
also been asked to attend interviews at EAA later this month and early
December.
As the alleged victims are said to come from different
places, she said the police complaints were filed in different police stations.
The money they lost to Nicdao reportedly range between
$2,000 and $30,000. The biggest amount he allegedly skimmed came from a
terminated Filipina worker whom he convinced to borrow money from a financing
company. Nicdao reportedly gave the Filipina only $1,000 before disappearing.
Ann herself claims to have deposited into a bank account
Nicdao was using a total of $9,400 (Php65,000)
sent to her by three friends in the Philippines, after he promised them jobs
as domestic workers in Hong Kong.
She later found out that the bank account belonged to a
Filipina who was helped by Nicdao to get into China. She reportedly left her ATM card
with Nicdao so she could send money to him to pay for her illicit deployment.
Ann says she met the other complainants online after she
posted warnings about Nicdao on various sites on Facebook.
Ann says she first met Nicdao when they joined the same tour
to China
in January this year. He allegedly offered to help find an employer for her
friend Merlyn who had just lost her job.
Nicdao reportedly didn’t ask for a lot of money, but managed
to get Merlyn a job. That was what convinced her of his sincerity and ability.
“Inabot ng hanggang six months bago siya nakabalik, pero
nagawa naman ni Alan ang pangako niya,” Ann says.
Her three other friends from the Philippines
who were enticed to apply for jobs through Nicdao were reportedly impressed
with him because he referred them to Studio 85, a licensed recruitment agency
in the Philippines,
where they signed employment contracts. The agency also arranged for their
medical examinations.
After collecting the employment contracts back from the
applicants and getting their payments, Nicdao allegedly said he would pass them
on a Hong Kong-based agency in Yuen Long, and that they should expect to be
deployed by Aug. 16.
They never heard from him again.
Ann said that when she started hunting down Nicdao, those
who used to hang out with him near the Star Ferry Terminal told her they had
heard of similar capers he pulled off on other people.
They reportedly offered copies of his passport and driver’s
license in the Philippines,
which showed he was 60 years old and lived in Makati City.
Ann says Nicdao told him he was working as a driver in Hong
Kong, and sold goods from China
on the side. But on hindsight, she said she never saw the guy behind the wheel,
or knew exactly where he worked and lived.
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| ALA Villafuerte is looking into the case vs Nicdao |
She is still awaiting confirmation from Acting Labor Attache Antonio Villafuerte if Nicdao has indeed worked as a domestic helper with
driving duties in Hong Kong.
From what the other complainants told her, Ann says it
appears Nicdao victimized people not just in Hong Kong but also in Macau and
the Philippines.
And they were not all Filipino domestic workers, but also employers.
Ann says one of his first apparent victims was his own
girlfriend who came as a tourist in 2014 and after finding an employer, paid
him $2,000 to process her employment contract. Her would-be employer was also
charged $6,500 for the job placement that never materialized.
Another employer who reportedly reached out to Ann is an
Indian national called Dita who says Nicdao disappeared after charging her a
down payment of $2,500 to process her helper’s contract.
Ann says all of the complainants have recorded chats with
Nicdao in which he promised to help them process job contracts or asked
outright for money. They have also kept receipts of the money transfer they
made into the bank account Nicdao was using.
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