Police arrest Chinese woman holding 9 PH passports as collaterals for loan

By Vir B. Lumicao 

9 Philippine passports were seized from the suspect, who allegedly charged interest of 17.6% a month

Police in Tseung Kwan O are investigating a 45-year-old local woman on suspicion of carrying on an unlicensed money lending business at a residential flat in Tseung Kwan O.

The suspect, who was not named, was arrested when officers raided her unit on Oct 25 and recovered nine Philippine passports, the police said in reply to query from The SUN. She has been released on bail and told to report back to the police late this month.

Initial inquiries showed that the woman offered loans totaling around $35,000 to nine victims and asked for their passports and employment contracts as collateral for the loans.

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According to one of the alleged victims, she borrowed $4,000 from the suspect in late May because she urgently needed money for her son’s college tuition fee. She was told to go to Lohas Park for a meet up, and to bring along her passport and contract.

During the meeting, the Chinese woman aged about 30 to 40, who she described as tall and thin with short hair, called her to the toilet where she handed an envelope containing $3,400.

When the borrower asked for the missing $600, the suspect allegedly said it was deducted as advance interest payment of 15% for the loan, which was due at the end of each month. As she got the loan on May 30, she needed to pay the interest upfront.

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For each month afterwards, the Filipina said she was supposed to pay $600, which was actually 17.6% interest per month, or a whopping 211% every year. On top of this, a late payment surcharge of $10 a day would be imposed along with the monthly interest payment.

They did not sign any loan agreement, the Filipina said, and the lender gave her a Bank of China account number in which to deposit the interest payment.

The Filipina said she failed to pay her monthly loan installment to the lender, and was worried about repaying the mounting charges and not being able to get back her passport and contract.

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Then one day last week, she received a message from the Tseung Kwan O Police asking her if she borrowed money from a Chinese woman in Lohas Park.

When she said yes, the officer told her to go to the police station last weekend to give her statement as the lender had been arrested. The victims were interviewed by the police last Saturday and Sunday.

The police said the suspect was being investigated for “carrying on a business as money lender without a license.” An investigation by the Crime Squad of Tseung Kwan O Police District is underway, the police said.

Consul Paul Saret inspects the 1,500 passports seized from OFC loans company

Throughout the years, the Consulate has consistently warned Filipino workers not to use their passports as loan collateral as these are the property of the Philippine government.

In the wake of the police raid on the OFC lending company in June 2019 when about 1,500 Philippine passports were recovered, the Department of Foreign Affairs issued guidelines declaring all pawned passports as automatically cancelled.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love

 

All those whose passports were found to have been used to take out loans wre told that they needed to go back to the Philippines and apply for a replacement with the DFA passport division.

But the rules were relaxed a bit later, when holders of the cancelled passports were given a second chance. They were told to execute an Affidavit of Undertaking not to re-offend, after which they would be issued a new passport and put under the DFA watchlist. If they re-offend they will forever be barred from getting another passport.

In an unfortunate twist to the loan saga, one of those who borrowed money from OFW ended up taking her own life by hanging, as her financial woes compounded her already troubled personal relationship.

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Quarantine-free entry for diplomats now limited to consuls-general

By Daisy CL Mandap 

For the Philippine Consulate, only Consul General Raly Tejada retains his quarantine exemption

Hong Kong has tightened the quarantine exemptions for certain people arriving from overseas, particularly officers and staff of foreign consulates and senior finance executives.

From Nov 12, only consuls general or representatives in Hong Kong at equivalent or higher level (as well as their family members) will be allowed go on home isolation when arriving from overseas.

All other consular and diplomatic officers who had stayed overseas within 21 days before arrival will now have to self-isolate at designated quarantine hotels. The removal of the quarantine exemption also applies to finance executives.

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The only ones who will continue to get the quarantine exemption are those that provide essential services such as cross-boundary goods vehicle drivers, crew members of aircraft and cargo vessels and certain designated government officials.

Previously, even ordinary staff at the consulates, including the newly arrived personnel at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, were allowed to isolate at home instead of spending their quarantine at designated hotels.

In a statement issued today, Nov 1, the government cited two imported cases involving consulate staff and their family members who were recently confirmed with Covid-19 infection while they were supposed to be on home isolation.

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The first case involved a Saudi Arabian consular staff whose three children who flew in from Riyadh tested positive for the mutated coronavirus days after arriving in Hong Kong. Investigations showed the children had left their home in Taikoo Shing while supposedly on home quarantine.

The second more recent case involved a diplomat from Russia who also tested positive for the L452R strain. He said he did not leave his home during the prescribed self-isolation period.

The government said, “The new measures will strengthen the prevention of importation of cases and tackle the threat posed by mutant strains by further minimizing the chance of transmission of the virus from imported cases into the community so as to foster favourable conditions for resuming cross-boundary travel with the Mainland and cross-border travel in future."

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Those who are allowed to retain their exemption status are reminded that if they breach the quarantine rules their exemption status will be revoked, and they will be transferred to quarantine centres.

In addition, all exempted persons are subject to medical surveillance during the exemption period. Anyone who violates the conditions of their medical surveillance will be liable to a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for six months.

A vendor looks at the QR code for Java Road Market, which was largely ignored today

Also part of the stricter regulations is the compulsory use of the LeaveHomeSafe app starting today, Nov. 1, for those entering government premises, including indoor wet markets and cooked food stalls.

Only those aged 12 and below or 65 and above, or those with mental incapacity that prevents them using the app, are still allowed to write down their personal details on pieces of paper for contract tracing.

BASAHIN ANG KWENTONG DREAM LOVE

However, enforcement at some of the indoor markets was noticeably lax today, despite the posting of visible notices at the venue entrances, which are guarded by staff at the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

Earlier, the FEHD said it would focus on education and information in the initial stage of the implementation to ensure visitors at the venue are suitably informed about the new regulation.

Meanwhile, only one imported case of Covid-19 was reported today, involving a 56-year-old male air crew from Russia who arrived via SV982 on Oct. 23.

He tested positive for the coronavirus with the L452R mutant strain at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre where he was moved after being identified as a close contact of a previously confirmed case.

He took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 12,347 confirmed cases.

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Police anti-fraud body looks into Filipina’s ‘love scam’ complaint

By Vir B. Lumicao    

Police anti-fraud experts are looking into the alleged love scam

A Filipina domestic helper who has sought police help against a foreign man she met online who she claimed to have fleeced her of $10,000 went to the Consulate today, Oct 31, to further strengthen her case against the alleged scammer.

Sol, 31, gave a copy of the statement she made to the Wanchai Police Station the previous Sunday to the assistance to nationals section of the Consulate.

“Nangako naman po sila na i-follow up nila,” she said, adding that she really wanted to get back the money that she lost as she had intended to send that to her family back in Davao. (They promised to follow it up <with the police>).

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But she also said she decided to file a complaint so other women, especially foreign domestic workers like her, won't lose their hard-earned money to sweet-talking scammers like she did.

Sol first went to Wanchai Police to file a complaint against the alleged scammer who listed down his name on the dating site “Encore” as “Dennise Robert Philips.” She said she met Philips after responding to his friend request on the dating site on Oct 2.

After interviewing her, the officer from the station’s detection and investigation team said the case had already been turned over to the Hong Kong Police Force’s Anti-Deception Coordination Centre.

He said further investigation would be handled by the Tsuen Wan police, which has jurisdiction over the case as Sol lives in the district.

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The officer advised the complainant to submit to the Tsuen Wan police any additional evidence she may have on the case.

In the meantime, the officer told the woman to avoid online dating sites and to tell others to do the same.

Photos of 'Philips' have surfaced in numerous dating sites under different names

The alleged victim said she had been losing sleep over the money she lost to Philips and her disappointment at the man who she said had convincingly used quotes from the Bible and sang religious songs to her to gain her trust.

She was to learn later that at least three other Filipinas had been pursued by the same man who used different names to trick them into giving him money.

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Two of the women said they lost more than $30,000 each to the same person, while the third Filipina was convinced to deposit $6,500 into a bitcoin machine, as instructed by the man, before he disappeared.

Sol gave the officer more than 50 screen captures of her message exchanges with Philips and a man named “Mr Chen.”

The alleged scammer had told her to contact Chen at the Immigration Department to request for a “letter of introduction” for his daughter so she could travel with him to Hong Kong, as he had lost his copy of the letter.

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Philips reportedly introduced himself as an American businessman who lived in Tin Hau but was then in the United States to fetch his young daughter.

He said he was a Christian, a claim that attracted her because she shared his faith, the woman said.

Philips allegedly asked her to chat on Facebook Messenger. The woman said she switched to Messenger and gave him her account name.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love

“As we both had the same religious belief, I felt (Philips) was a good man and we became lovers during our Facebook chat on Oct 7,” the woman said.

On Oct 9, Philips reportedly sent her a message saying he was in a hotel and that he urgently needed to pay a hotel booking but forgot to bring his wallet. He asked her to send him $10,000 immediately through his bitcoin account.

The suspect sent the Filipina a QR code for the transaction and directed her to go to the T.Mark shop at 18 Tai Ho Road, where a bitcoin ATM machine was. After depositing $10,000 into the bitcoin account, Sol sent her online boyfriend a photo of the transaction record.

On Oct 13, the complainant again received a message from Philips, who said he and his daughter were stuck at Hong Kong airport because he didn’t have a “permission of entry,” which he needed to pay for.

He asked her to contact Chen again, saying he was hurting from being refused entry to Hong Kong. But the purported Immigration man told Sol that Philips needed to apply for the permit again and pay $4,500.

Philips suggested that Sol borrow money from a lending company to pay this, but this angered the Filipina, who said never in her life had she taken out a loan. When the man insisted, she told him she had asked friends and was advised to avoid him as he was a scammer.

This resulted in a heated exchange between them. On Oct 20, when she checked Philips’ Facebook account, Sol discovered that he had blocked her 

The officer asked the complainant why she gave money to Philips, and she replied that she wanted to help a fellow Christian who was in trouble.

A two-page police report prepared by the officer did not mention the part about Chen. The complaints desk officer who initially interviewed Sol said there was no need to mention him because no actual monetary transaction took place between her and Chen.

But the report bore a clause that said she can add or amend information any time she needed to do so.

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Compulsory use of LeaveHomeSafe app in govt venues to start tomorrow

By The SUN 

Indoor public markets such as the one in Lei Yue Mun are included in the regulation

Mandatory use of the LeaveHomeSafe app for entry into government buildings, including enclosed wet markets and cooked food stalls, will be enforced starting Monday, Nov 1.

The only ones exempted from the new rule are those aged 12 and below and 65 and above, and those with disability that make it difficult for them to use the app.

But according to Secretary for Civil Service Patrick Nip, the rule will be applied with leniency, amid clamor from various sectors for exemptions for other people who may not have the means to download the app.

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Speaking on radio on Sunday, Nip said he is aware of the difficulties faced by some citizens, such as homeless people, who have no smart phones. Initially, a light-handed approach will be adopted, Nip said.

He said that for homeless people, they can leave contacts of social welfare organizations or social workers. He reminded citizens that it is illegal to provide false information or use a fake LeaveHomeSafe app.

In a separate statement, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department which runs all public markets, said that it will focus initially on education instead of strict implementation of the new rule.

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“As it takes time for the public to get used to the new measures, especially for its public markets, hawker bazaars and cooked food markets, the FEHD will focus on education and publicity, and offer technical support to those in need during the initial stage of the implementation of the requirement,” said the statement.

This means that those who have “genuine difficulties in using the app” will still be allowed to write down their personal details on a piece of paper, said the FEHD.  However, it warned that this would lengthen their waiting time of those allowed to skip the new rule for the meantime.

Those given an exemption to the new rule will also be asked to fill in a prescribed form to register their names, the first four digits of their identification documents, their contact numbers and the date and time of their visits.

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“The staff on-site will also verify the listed contact numbers by making phone calls on the spot,” warned the FEHD.

Exempted from the strict implementation of the app use are those who enter FEHD’s columbaria, cemeteries, refuse collection points, public bathhouses and public toilets. The venues’ QR codes will still be display, but users are given the option of not using them before entry.

Visitors at all public hospitals are also covered by the strict app-use requirement 

Among the other venues that will require the use of the app are government offices including the Immigration Department, public schools, hospitals, libraries, sports grounds, courts and police stations.

The new rule is part of the government’s tightened Covid restrictions aimed at reopening Hong Kong’s borders with the Mainland and preventing a possible fifth wave of infections in the city.

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Currently, many business establishments, particularly restaurants and pubs, as well as churches and other places of worship, already require their visitors to use the app, but still give them the option to sign in using slips of paper at the entrance.

Meanwhile, a woman who arrived from the United Kingdom on Friday was confirmed today as the only Covid-19 patient in Hong Kong. She was found to carry the L452R mutant strain of the coronavirus.

She took the number of cases in Hong Kong to 12,347.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love

The 37-year-old woman arrived on a BA031 flight from London on Oct 29 and tested positive on her arrival test at Hong Kong International Airport.

The Centre for Health Protection is also investigating an overseas case of Covid-19 involving an 18-year-old man who lives at Ching Tak House, Tsz Ching Estate, Tsz Wan Shan.

The CHP said the man traveled to Singapore on Oct 24 by flight TR981 and his specimen collected upon arrival in that city tested positive.

The man received two doses of BioNTech on Jul 8 and Jul 30 in Hong Kong.

The CHP said it is following up the case with Singapore’s health authority and that epidemiological investigations and contact tracing are continuing.

Health authorities included the place where the patient resided in Hong Kong during the incubation period in a compulsory testing notice. Everyone who was at the venue at specified periods need to undergo compulsory testing on or before Nov 1.

The Hospital Authority said that as of 9am today, 63 confirmed patients were being treated in eight public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre. All of them are in stable condition. 

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Police arrest 32 people, including 12 FDHs, in $9.1M online scam busts

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The 12 FDHs reportedly lent their ATMs to the scam syndicates

Police have arrested 32 persons, including 12 foreign domestic helpers, in a five-day operation to bust online scams in which victims lost a total of $9.1 million.

Reports say the FDHs were all bank account holders who lent their ATMs to online syndicates for money laundering, for which they were paid only a few hundreds or thousands of dollars.

A police spokesman confirmed the arrests to The SUN, and said two of the 12 non-local women are Filipinas, while the 10 others are Indonesians. But he said he could not confirm reports that they are FDHs.

The biggest loser in the scams was said to be a female investment manager aged around 30 years old, who reported losing up to $3 million to a “foreign pilot” in an online romance scam.

The local woman met her online boyfriend early this year, and they became a couple. Three months after they met, the man said he wanted to send the woman jewelry.

He or someone acting on his behalf, then pretended to be a staff member of a logistics company, and instructed the woman to transfer about $3 million to 21 bank accounts, saying they were for duties and transportation fees. 

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The report comes as more Filipina DHs have stepped forward to claim to have been defrauded of between $6,500 to more than $30,000 by the same man or group of men they met on online dating sites.

The women made the claim after The SUN reported of two earlier victims, one who lost $10,000 and the other, more than $30,000 to a man who used the same photos to befriend, then swindle them.

One of those who claimed to have fallen prey to the same South Asian-looking man who duped the first two victims, Sol and Viena, said she had given more than $30,000 to the fraudster before she came to her senses.

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Jelai said she met the man through the dating site, HongKong Social. As in Sol’s case, the man reportedly presented himself as pious and a doting father to a young girl he wanted to bring to Hong Kong.

The man who even supplied a copy of his supposed HKID card, said he is an American businessman with permanent residency in Hong Kong. In both cases, he introduced another person who he said was an Immigration officer, to vouchsafe for his integrity.

“Nakakalungkot kasi patuloy pa rin ang scam nila. Hindi kasi ako aware, akala ko totoong Kristiyano ang kausap ko. Animal (pala),” she said. (It’s sad because they are still at it.

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Jelai said she just borrowed the money she lost in the scam, for which she still pays 10% interest monthly.

Another victim who introduced herself as Cristine, said she lost $6,500 to the same man in June this year.

In Cristine’s case, the bald man known as Dennise Philips to Sol and Tommy Rivera to Viena, had introduced himself to her as Samuel Gonzales.

Receipt for the $6,500 bitcoin transfer made by Cristine to the scammer

Luckily, after depositing the $6,500 to a bitcoin account on ‘Samuel’s’ instructions, Cristine realized she had been duped.

The Filipina, who has been in Hong Kong for just a year, said she was embarrassed to talk to anyone about her experience.

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Despite being advised to go to the police to complain, Cristine said she’d rather forget about the sorry incident.“Na scam din ako ng parehong lalaki, pero iba na ang name na ginamit niya sa akin. Hindi ko na share sa mga kaibigan ko kasi nahihiya ako,” Cristine said in a message. (“I was scammed by the same guy, but he used a different name with me. I did not share my experience with my friends because I am embarrassed).

Same fake HKID card, different name, used to scam at least 4 Filipina DHs

Meanwhile, the police said that in the operation codenamed Spikewind which began last Sunday and ended Thursday, 21 online scams were busted, and 32 people, aged between 19 to 75 were arrested.

The cases involved online dating, fake compensated dating, email scams, fake job offers and even online shopping fraud, with the victims having lost a total of $9.1 million between January to August this year.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love

Those arrested in the crackdown included five men and 15 women, apart from the 12 FDHs. They were arrested on suspicion of obtaining property by deception and theft, but were all released on bail.

Police said their investigation is still ongoing and did not rule out making more arrests.

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Experts to recommend Covid-19 jabs for kids aged 5-11

By The SUN 

Kids 5-11 years old may soon be given a BioNTech jab to avert a fifth wave of infections 

A member of an expert panel advising the Hong Kong government on Covid vaccines has said that it would likely recommend giving five to eleven-year-old children a BioNTech jab to protect them, as well as other family members, in case a fifth wave occurs.

Speaking on a radio program earlier today, Oct 30, Prof. Ivan Hung from the University of Kong said the vaccination program for the younger age group may be launched within a month.

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The idea, he said, is to give the children to get one-third of a dose.

Currently, one dose of BioNTech vaccine is recommended for children 12 years and above.

“So if the delta variant manages to get in and we have a fifth wave as assumed, then there’ll be a problem especially among children who have not been vaccinated,” Hung said.

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The expert also said that 100 in every one million of children aged between 12 and 17 developed myocarditis after vaccination, but around 90 percent of them recovered quickly.

Prof Hung says only a third of the adult dose will be given to the youngest age group

Meanwhile, three more imported Covid-19 cases were added to Hong Kong’s tally today. Two involve foreign domestic workers and one a returning resident from Germany.

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Two of them tested positive on arrival test, a 35-year-old FDH who came from the Philippines via 5J272 and a 59-year-old man who came from Germany via LH796.

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The man tested positive for the L452R mutant strain while the woman did not have a sufficient viral load to test for variants.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love

The third is a 23-year-old FDH from Indonesia who arrived on Oct 23 via CX 798. She was on her fifth day of quarantine at Penny’s Bay when she tested positive for Covid-19 with the L452R mutant strain.

The three cases took Hong Kong’s total confirmed infections to 12,345.

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Paglipat ng mobile number sa ibang network pwede nang magawa sa Pilipinas

Nagsimula na sa Pilipinas ang MNP o mobile number portability (MNP) law  noong Sept. 30, kaya pinaalalahanan ng Barkadahan ang users nito na  i-check muna nang mabuti kung anong mga network na ang gamit ng kanilang pamilya sa Pilipinas bago sila pasahan ng load o tawagan ng IDD.

Ito ay upang hindi masayang ang padala o ang mga special offer nito kung sakaling nakalipat na ng telecom company ang padadalhan sa pamamagitan ng My SIM Account App ng Barkadahan.

Halimbawa, "meron tayong Globe IDD pass na $28 lang pang tawag sa 5 Globe Numbers na hanggang 70 IDD minutes a day for 7 days," ayon sa Barkadahan."I-open lang ang My SIM Account, press Plans & Services, Globe IDD Pass, at i-register up to 5 Globe numbers."

Pwede rin mag pasa ng mga regular load gamit ang My SIM Account App. "I-openlang ang My SIM Account, press Load Transfer, To Philippines," dagdag nito.

"Kapag internet loads naman ang ipapasa, i-open My SIM Account App, press Plans & Services, Family Data Plan."

Ayon sa Republic Act 11202, ang mga postpaid at prepaid subscribers ng mga telecom companies ay pwede nang lumipat sa ibang provider na hindi nababago ang kanilang numero.

Ang iba pang dapat malaman sa MNP: 

• Ang paglipat sa isang telco ay libre.

• 48 hours lang ay gawa na ang transfer.

• Ang service ay available sa mga prepaid at postpaid subscribers basta ang lock-in period ng postpaid users ay tapos na at mga issues ay ayos o bayad na

• Walang limit daw sa switching kahit pabalik balik ka sa mga telco providers

• May 60-day period bago ang subscriber ay maka-request muli ng transfer

• Dapat active ang SIM at ang may ari mismo ng SIM ang lilipat

Para sa iba pang detalye nito, tingnan ang website ng provider na gamit mo. Narito ang mga links ng mga networks sa Pilipinas – Smart, Globe at Dito.  

https://dito.ph/mobile-number-portability

https://smart.com.ph/Pages/mobilenumberportability

https://www.globe.com.ph/help/mobile-number-portability.html

 

Ang pagpapadala ng load at sa Pili[inas ay naging madali sa Barkadahan dahil sa sa My SIM Account App.

Kung wala pa kayong app, magdownload at install muna o i-press ang https://wap.smartone.com/bssapp/. 

Para naman malaman iba pang mga offers sa Barkadahan, tingnan ang aming leaflets o press: https://bit.ly/2Uy81zi. 

Kung kailangan mo ng tulong kung paano mag install at gamitin ang My SIM Account App, pwede kang bumisita sa mga Barkadahan shops: 

(1) World-Wide House Central: Shop 159, 1/F World Wide House, 19 Des Voeux Road Central, Central, Hong Kong​; 

(2) Lik Sang Plaza Tsuen Wan: Shop 07, G/F, Lik Sang Plaza, Tsuen Wan, New Territories. 

Mas bongga talaga sa Barkadahan, pramis! Barkadahan sa SmarTone for the OFW, with the OFW!