MANILA, Philippines - More than 50 people, including survivors of Typhoon Yolanda, trooped to the Manila Police District (MPD) yesterday to file a complaint against a group of illegal recruiters who duped them of nearly P100,000 each for jobs abroad.
The MPD identified the suspects as Ester Tipon and her relatives Maria Jossette Tipon dela Rama; Sherilyn Tipon, and Rolando Tipon; Salvador Elviña; Jessica Elviña, and a certain engineer Melchor Vasquez.
The victims filed a complaint for large-scale estafa and illegal recruitment against the suspects.
Ester was nabbed in an entrapment operation conducted by operatives of the MPD general assignment section, led by Senior Police Officer 2 James Poso, in Rizal Park last week after one of her recruits reported her scheme to the police.
According to the complainants, the suspects asked them to cough up P60,000 to P90,000 for their deployment and processing fees.
The suspects’ racket was uncovered after one of the victims, Nick Jommel Salido, checked with the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency and found out that their agency is fake.
Salido, a Yolanda survivor, was asked to pay P90,000 for a job in Miami, Florida.