Agency owner charged for large scale illegal recruitment

CEBU, Philippines - Charges for large scale illegal recruitment and estafa were filed yesterday against the owner and general manager of Infinite Career Pathways Inc.

Romero D. Eñego was accused of collecting a total of P547,000 from four overseas job applicants from September last year to February this year.

Eñego, according to the complaint filed before the Regional Trial Court, failed to deploy the applicants despite receiving P102,000 from Deneb Rose Delantar, P142,000 from Jobe R. Casicas, P150,000 from Mia Anne M. Gomez and P153,000 from Alvie Joy R. Cadiz.

Prosecutor Naruzen Delfin-Lorete stated that the crime of large scale illegal recruitment was non-bailable. For the estafa case, Eñego will have to pay a bail of P55,000 for Cadiz’s complaint, P32,000 for Delantar’s, P40,000 for Casicas’ and P50,000 for Gomez’s.

The four were applying for jobs for the United Kingdom (UK) but the accused failed to send them abroad. They were told that they could fly for Europe on December 2009 for Delantar and April 12, 2010 for the rest of the complainants.

 He was also not able to pay back their money despite repeated demands.

In his counter-affidavit, Eñego explained that he is not the owner of the agency, only its general manager. He further explained that their company is not engaged in recruitment nor advertise for work abroad, but they merely assist visa applicants such as student visa for the UK. He stressed that they emphasized this during a lecture with the applicants.

The money they received, according to Eñego, were not for placement fees for work but for college deposit, processing fee and biometrics fee, which were the requirements for the issuance of a “confirmation of acceptance for studies” (CAS).

He also said it’s not true that they did not give reimbursements. The withdrawal of the applications was made after the CAS was already issued, so it would take time for the agency to get a refund from the Northbrook College where the students’ visas were applied.

But the City Prosecutor’s Office, in a resolution approved by City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon, said that all matters raised in the counter-affidavit are “best settled in court” as it involves more documentary and testimonial evidence.

“This office is not the proper forum to exhaust said issues. It is for the court to determine and to resolve this matter with finality,” the resolution read.(FREEMAN NEWS)