Woman held for illegal recruitment

MANILA, Philippines — A woman allegedly involved in an illegal recruitment scheme who duped people with fake jobs in Canada was arrested in Quezon City on Thursday.

The suspect, whom the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) identified only as Susan, was arrested in an entrapment operation at a mall in Barangay Socorro at around 8 a.m.

CIDG director Maj. Gen. Leo Francisco said the operation was launched after three people accused the suspect of duping them of P230,000 in application fees.

Franciso said the suspect promised the victims jobs as fruit pickers in Canada with a monthly salary of P150,000.

The victims became suspicious after they were not deployed to Canada. They later discovered Susan was not authorized to recruit people for overseas employment.

Francisco said the victims approached the CIDG after the suspect kept on demanding money.

Susan was placed under arrest after she accepted P10,000 in marked money.

Criminal charges for violating Republic Act 8042, or the Migrant Workers Act, and estafa are being readied against the suspect.