Recruiter of FDHs with fake employment contracts jailed 15 months

 By The SUN 

Falsified utility bills were used to support the fake employment contracts

A 56-year-old Hong Kong permanent resident who obtained foreign domestic helper visas for 23 foreign domestic helpers using fake contracts more than three years ago, has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment at Shatin Magistracy.

According to a press release issued by the Immigration Department today, Sept 24, the employment agent was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to defraud. No name or gender was provided for the accused.

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The statement said the 23 FDHs involved in the case had been convicted earlier for the offence of making false representation to an immigration officer, and were sentenced to up to eight months' imprisonment.

The 24 accused were arrested in July 2018 after immigration agents noticed several suspicious employers' residential and financial proofs submitted to support the fake employment contracts, triggering the investigation of the employment agency.

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“During the enforcement action, two computers and four mobile phones were seized, and respective false employers' proofs were discovered after conducting forensic examinations,” said the government statement.

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After more than three years, the case is still being investigated. “An investigation of the other suspects is continuing,” said the statement.

Since March 2018, an Immigration operation codenamed Operation Shadowcatcher has cracked down on people who submit fake employment contracts using falsified residential proofs. More than 50 people, including employment agents,  other Hong Kong residents and Filipino and Indonesian nationals on FDH visas, have been arrested in the operation.

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Under the Immigration Ordinance, false representation is punishable with a maximum fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for up to 14 years.

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For conspiracy to defraud the maximum penalty is 14 years in jail, which is the same punishment imposed on those who make, possess or use false instrument.

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Employers’ group calls for cut, not hike, in FDW wages

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The employers' group says FDH wages should be cut by 10%

An employers’ group which has long been at odds with foreign domestic helpers’ support organizations, has called for a 10% cut, instead of an increase, in the minimum allowable wage (MAW) for the workers.

Betty Yung, chair of the Hong Kong Employers of Overseas Domestic Helpers Association, wants the government to cut FDH wages by 10%, citing the huge cost of bringing in workers now, which she estimated to be around $40,000.

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Yung’s statement was in reaction to a call made yesterday by the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, for the government to mandate a “living wage” of $6,014 a month for FDHs, and raise the food allowance to $2,600.

AMCB spokesperson Dolores Balladares-Pelaez immediately rejected Yung’s call, saying the minimum pay of migrant workers should be raised, not reduced, because they now work longer hours and spend more because of the pandemic, and also because of higher prices.

“Dapat pa ngang itaas dahil sobrang haba ng oras ng trabaho, dagdag gastos din sa mga taas ng presyo ng bilihin, at mga needs sa pandemic,” she added. (They should raise our pay because of our excessively long hours of work, added expenses due to higher prices of goods, and the protective stuff that we need for the pandemic.)

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Pelaez said employers who balk at spending a lot more money hiring FDWs should address their complaint to the Hong Kong government as it is the one that is requiring them to pay for Covid-19 tests and the 21-day hotel quarantine for the workers they recruit from overseas.

Pelaez hands over wage hike petition to a Labour Dept representative

Thomas Chan, head of an employment agencies union, dismissed Yung’s call, saying it is not likely to get the government’s nod.

“Reduce? I don't think the government will say yes to her. That’s only a negotiation tactic,” Chan said.

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But Chan, who heads the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, also thinks the government would similarly ignore AMCB’s call to jack up the current minimum wage by 30%.

“I don't think the government will approve the request to increase the monthly FDH salary to $6,014,” said Chan.

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He said agencies are not in a position to comment on the wage issue, but expect the new salary to reflect market forces, a balance between demand and supply, and other relevant factors.

Chan said some employers are already offering salaries similar to this level but others stick to the government-mandated minimum wage. 

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The government is expected to announce the new MAW by next week. The current minimum salary mandated by the government is $4,630 a month.

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8 arrested, 2 jailed as Immigration continues crackdown on illegal work

By The SUN 

Undercover officers have stepped up the crackdown on illegal work amid the pandemic (File)

Eight people have been arrested in another territory-wide operation to flush out illegal workers across Hong Kong, as well as those who employ them, according to a statement released by the Immigration Department today, Sept 24.

Separately, two Vietnamese women were sentenced yesterday to 15 months in jail each by a magistrate in Shatin Court for working illegally.

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According to Immigration, those arrested in the city-wide sweep yesterday were four suspected illegal workers, three persons suspected of employing them and one suspected aider and abettor.

The arrests were part of the operation codenamed “Twilight,” in which undercover officers targeted 11 locations including a fruit stall, premises under renovation, a recycling yard, restaurants, a retail shop, a residential building and a warehouse. 

The four suspected illegal workers were a man and three women aged 35 to 63. The government statement said the man and one woman held recognizance forms, which bar them from taking any employment.

The man was also suspected of using and possessing a forged Hong Kong identity card.

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The suspected employers of the illegal workers were a man and two women, aged 60 to 63. Another man, aged 67, was arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting persons who breached their condition of stay.

Meanwhile, the two Vietnamese women, aged 39 and 42, who were employed as odd-job workers, were arrested by Immigration officers during a raid on a food factory in San Po Kong on Aug 10.

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Their suspected employer was also arrested. He is being investigated, Immigration said in the press release.

The two women were charged with taking up employment after landing unlawfully and remaining in Hong Kong without the authority of the Director of Immigration. They were also charged with one count each of using a forged Hong Kong identity card.  

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They pleaded guilty to both charges.

The Immigration Ordinance stipulates that an illegal immigrant, a person who is subject to a removal or deportation order, an overstayer or a person who was refused permission to land cannot take up any job, paid or unpaid, or set up or join any business.

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The prohibition also applies to foreign domestic workers who do parttime work, or work for a person who is not their employer, or work in an address different from what is stated in their employment contracts.

Offenders will be prosecuted and are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years' imprisonment.

It is also an offence to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Offenders face a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years in jail upon conviction.

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Two Filipina DHs, 4 Indo sea crew among 7 coronavirus cases today

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The cargo ship where the 4 seafarers had worked is under quarantine in HK

Two Filipina domestic helpers who flew in aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from Manila are among seven new Covid-19 infections reported today, Sept 24.

The rest include four male crew of the Indonesian-registered cargo ship Aliyah Permata which came from India, and a 41-year-old man who flew in from Ghana.

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According to Department of Health staff, the FDHs and the man from Ghana were all found infected with the L452R mutant strain, while the test results on the sea crew are still pending.

The staff said the cargo ship is now under quarantine at the Western Anchorage #2, while the sick crew members, aged 33, 34, 24 and 32, have been taken to hospital.

Centre for Health Protection records show the first crew member had one dose of the  Sinovac vaccine in Indonesia on Jul 28, while the three others are unvaccinated.

All of today’s confirmed cases are asymptomatic, and tested positive on arrival in Hong Kong.

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The two Filipina DHs were both jabbed in the Philippines with Sinovac. The first, who is 38 years old, had her two doses on Jun 21 and Jul 19, while the second, who is 24, had hers on Jun 16 and Jul 17.

They flew in aboard flight CX906 on Sept 22.

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The man from Ghana, on the other hand, received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on May 21 and Jun 11. He also arrived on Sept 22 via flight QR 818.

The new cases took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 infections to 12,176.

Australia says specimen left by the HK Airlines crew tested positive for Covid-19 

Meanwhile, the CHP said it is investigating the case of a cargo flight crew who returned from Australia on Sept 22 via flight HX2017. He tested negative on his arrival test, so was allowed to proceed to his house at Tower 11 of Caribbean Coast Phase 3 under medical surveillance.

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However, the Australian health authority notified its Hong Kong counterpart yesterday that the specimen that the man had left on Sept 20 on arrival in Sydney tested positive for Covid-19. No information was given as to whether the patient carried a coronavirus variant.

The man tested negative for Covid-19 on Sept 17, then left Hong Kong for Australia on Sept 20. He returned two days later.

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CHP said the man received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on Apr 7 and 29.

The patient, who remains asymptomatic, was taken to hospital for treatment while the building where he resides will be put under a compulsory testing notice out of caution.

The Hospital Authority says one Covid-19 patient was discharged in the past 24 hours, while 33 others are still being treated in seven public hospitals the infection control center in North Lantau. All are stable.

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Kindergarten under watch as 22 pupils catch flu-like illness

By The SUN 

The Kowloon Tong kindergarten has already  been put under compulsory testing last week

A kindergarten in Kowloon Tong has been told by the Centre for Health Protection to adopt infection control measures after an outbreak of upper respiratory tract infection that afflicted 22 pupils.

The outbreak was reported by the CHP today, Sept. 23, six days after the school, along with 11 others, were placed under a compulsory testing notice. At that time, similar flu-like symptoms were reported among students at the schools.

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The Kowloon Tong kindergarten has already suspended teaching activities for at least five days for cleaning and executing the CTN.

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The CHP’s report says the outbreak involves 15 boys and seven girls aged 3 to 5 who have developed cough, runny nose, sore throat and fever since Sept 13. Sixteen sought medical attention but none required hospitalization. All are in stable condition.

 

The CHP has placed the school under medical surveillance, and urged the public and staff of institutions to stay alert for similar incidents. Everyone is reminded to maintain strict personal and environmental hygiene.

Two men who had been to Kenya are today's confirmed Covid cases

On the Covid-19 front, two more imported cases were confirmed today, involving two men, aged 35 and 43, who had been to Kenya. They were both asymptomatic and fully vaccinated.

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One tested positive for the L452R mutant strain of the coronavirus, while the test result on the other was inconclusive.

Separately, a 52-year-old fully vaccinated woman tested positive for Covid-19 in the United Kingdom, two days after leaving Hong Kong. She had tested negative three days before her flight, and was fully vaccinated in the mainland with Sinovac.

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CHP told people who had stayed at the Butterfly On Prat hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, where the woman had stayed while in the territory, to get tested.

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Today’s two cases took Hong Kong’s total coronavirus tally to 12,170. 

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