By Vir B. Lumicao
 |
| The HSBC branch in Tuen Mun where the complainants opened their accounts |
A Filipina domestic helper who allegedly collected the ATM
cards of unwitting fellow workers that were later used in money laundering has
been identified by some of her recruits, and is said to be still working in
Hong Kong.
The full identity of the alleged scammer, who initially went by the name Gemmalyn, is already known to the
Consulate. She is described by one of her recruits as the money launderers’
link to workers whom she allegedly urged to open bank accounts, saying that was
where their “part-time income” would be paid.
Asked what the Consulate intended to do with the
information, Consul General Raly Tejada said, “We are already coordinating with
the police.”
On Sunday, two workers who said their accounts had been used
to move huge amounts of cash went to the Consulate to seek advice and report how
they got into the mess.
C.S. and R.I. told Consul Paulo Saret that they were
promised access to loans and make a lot of money offering gadgets online. But
they would first have to hand over their ATM cards to the contact woman.
When Saret asked them if they knew who the alleged conduit
was, R.I. said she knew her because the woman took both her and C.S.’ ATM cards.
“Is she this woman?” Saret asked, showing a Facebook profile
picture of a woman that an informant provided the Consulate.
At first, R.I. said that was not the contact woman. But
after a closer scrutiny and a little tinkering with the woman’s Facebook
profile, it revealed the original photo of the contact woman that had been
provided to the Consulate.
Her identity was first revealed by two other duped workers,
one of whom was arrested by police two weeks ago. It turned out she started using
various accounts and different names after blocking all the workers who were
chasing her for their ATM cards.
C.S. said she opened a bank account at Hong
Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp in Tuen Mun in July 2020 and gave
her card to R.I., a friend she met two years ago.
C.S. said it was R.I. who suggested she join her part-time
work because she was in dire need of cash to settle bank loans incurred by friends. R.I. claimed she handed the ATM card to the syndicate’s contact woman.
C.S. said that shortly later, she received a message from
HSBC informing her of a cash deposit of more than $100,000 in her account.
Both helpers said they panicked after police began arresting
two weeks ago some OFWs who had applied for similar jobs via the contact woman in
an anti-money laundering probe, so they decided to come forward. They said
they’d also report to the police.
Saret praised them for taking the initiative to report
instead of waiting the police to arrest them. He advised them to tell what
really happened, as that could help lessen their fault.
The two helpers went next to the nearby Wanchai Police
Station in the afternoon to report the suspicious activity in their accounts.
C.S., the first to be called by the complaint officer, gave
the police a prepared statement of what happened. She said it was R.I who
suggested to her to join the part-time job by handing her ATM card and telling
her she could also take a loan.
When R.I. was asked why she took C.S.’ card and to whom did
she give it, she said she gave it to the contact woman, who also told her what
to do.
Asked how much they were paid for joining the job, C.S. said
she was paid $900 through R.I. The latter, on the other hand, said she got $500
as initial pay, and $4,000 afterwards.
After taking down notes, the officer who interviewed the two
women told them to go to the bank branch and explain their part. He took their
addresses and phone numbers and told them to just wait until police call them
after the bank makes a report.
Only C.S. was able to do that this morning. She went to the HSBC
branch in Tuen Mun where she opened her account.
 |
| AC's bank account shows $194k being deposited, then taken out on same day |
A bank officer who interviewed C.S. told her the account,
which she opened in July last year, had already been frozen.
After reviewing the account transactions, the bank officer also
told the Filipina to instruct the bank’s customer service to close the
account’s online banking facility.
An account statement issued by the bank at the request of
C.S. showed an initial deposit of $100 that R.I. made into it on Oct 26, 2020. C.S.
said R.I. told her she needed that as maintaining balance.
Then on Oct 31, a cash deposit of $194,300 was made into the
account, but it was all taken out on the same day. Four withdrawals of $20,000
each was made from the account, and the rest was transferred to three different
accounts.
As of today, Feb 1, only the initial deposit of $
100
remained in C.S.’ account.
