Korean nabbed for illegal recruitment

A Korean national and his common-law wife were arrested in an entrapment operation at a mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City for alleged large-scale illegal recruitment.

The suspects, identified as Gwingbok Oh and Janet Megallon, both of Barangay Manuyo 2 in Las Piñas City, are now detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Oh and Megallon were charged with large-scale illegal recruitment and estafa before the Muntinlupa City Prosecutor’s Office, according to Assistant Regional Director Vicente de Guzman III of the NBI Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD).

The suspects have reportedly been engaged in illegal recruitment since last year.

De Guzman said they planned an entrapment operation after Gloria Ramos filed a complaint before their office.

Ramos said Oh introduced himself to her as someone who can help aspiring overseas workers enter South Korea and promised her and other victims jobs as factory workers with a salary of $800 (P36,000) a month.

NBI Agent Martini Cruz said the interested applicants were initially asked to pay P250,000 to cover the processing and placement fees.

But even after the victims submitted the requirements such as passports, pictures, and resumes, Oh still failed to produce their approved visa.

This made them suspicious and the next time that Oh demanded P30,000 from Ramos, they alerted the NBI-AFCCD. The additional amount is supposed to be used for the final processing of her travel papers.

The NBI agents apprehended Oh and Magallon after they allegedly received P2,000 in marked money. – Evelyn Macairan