By Vir B. Lumicao
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| 3 Filipina DHs were arrested after their ATM cards from HSBC were used to launder money |
An undetermined number of Filipino domestic workers have
been arrested as the
Hong Kong police has
begun investigating a money laundering operation in which illicit money transfers
were made using the workers’ ATM accounts.
Last night, Consul General Raly Tejada confirmed there had
been arrests and that the Consulate is helping them.
“Yes I can confirm
that merong mga nakasuhan at tinutulungan ngayon ng Konsulado,” ConGen Tejada
said in response to an enquiry. (I can confirm that some people have been
arrested and they are now being helped by the Consulate).
One of the two Filipinas who claimed they were deceived into
lending their ATM cards to an operative of the syndicate was arrested on Jan 15.
The woman, C.P., was released on bail by police but was fired by her employer
the next day.
On Wednesday night, her friend M.N., who was so scared the
police would pick her up any time, was dismissed by her employers for getting into
the mess.
C.P. and M.N. told The SUN that they were enticed by another
friend in January last year to respond
to an advertisement on Facebook offering part-time jobs that could earn them
thousands in just weeks.
A fellow Filipina who replied to their enquiry told them
they needed to have ATM accounts for payment of their earnings. Initially they
would be paid $500 each, but it turned out that was all they would get for the
scam that cost them their jobs.
When the woman learned they had no ATM accounts, she told them
to get in touch with another Filipina who would help open accounts at HSBC for
them.
“Sabi niya may
kakilala daw siya na mag-open ng account sa bangko at magkakapera daw ako. Sabi
ko, Ah ganun? Magkakapera daw ako? Magagamit ko naman yung ATM?” recounted M.N., the more
talkative of the two.
(She said she
knows somebody at the bank who can open the accounts for us. Is that so, I
asked. I’d be earning money? Will I be able to use my ATM?)
“Oo, magagamit mo
24/7, sabi niya. E di masaya ako dahil may ATM na ako, magkakapera pa ako,”
she said. (Yes, you’ll use it 24/7,
she said. I was so glad because I’ll be having an ATM account and be earning at
the same time.)
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| The 3 victims say a fellow Filipina helped them to open an account with HSBC |
So, later that same month, C.P., M.N. and their friend
went to an HSBC branch in a place they said they could not remember, and met the Filipina who was to assist them waiting there. She coached them on
what to tell the teller.
“Ganito ang gawin nyo
ha. Ito answer nyo, sabihin nyo sa teller na kailangan makuha nyo rin ngayon
ang ATM dahil gagamitin nyo bukas.”
(This is what
you’ll tell the teller. Tell her you have to get the ATM cards today because
you’ll be needing them tomorrow.)
After the cards were issued, the woman reportedly collected them
as well as the PIN codes. She told them some businessmen needed to keep the
cards for about a week and the helper would be receiving further payments in
return.
Days later they received emails on their phones from the
bank showing that $50,000 or $30,000 was deposited to their accounts, M.N. said.
They began to worry and told the woman about the large deposits.
“Ang sabi kasi,
ibibigay daw $500. Nagugulat kami kung bakit may ganito kaming kalaking pera.
Tapos may nagmi-message na hindi ko kakilala. Nakalimutan ko kung magkano yun,
$50,000 o $30,000. Sabi niya, huwag kayong matatakot,” said M.N. (We were told we’d be paid $500. We were
surprised we had such big amounts. Then someone I didn’t know would call. He
told us not to worry.)
The helpers claimed they had no idea it was money laundering
until police came to arrest C.P. in her employer’s flat in Tseung Kwan O.
“Natataranta ako sa
takot noon. Pumasok ako sa kuwarto at gusto kong tumalon,” C.P. said. (I
panicked out of fear. I went into my room and wanted to jump out.)
During investigation, she told police she didn’t know about
the big money transactions because she had lost her ATM card.
The more frantic of the three helpers was M.N., whose voice
trembled as she related how her mother had fallen sick from worrying, after learning that she lost her job. She said her
family advised her to go home as soon as possible.
C.P., on the hand, had
fallen silent.
As a result of the arrests, the Filipino community was
reminded by the Consulate to take care of their ATM cards and not to entrust
the PIN or personal identification number of the cards to other persons who
could use these for illegal transactions.
