Arab man charged for large scale illegal recruitment

CEBU, Philippines - An Arab man who claimed to be a judge from the United Arab Emirates was charged for large scale illegal recruitment and estafa before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office following his arrest Saturday.

At least five people complained against Adnan Sayed Anwar Ali Alkazim, 47, temporary resident of Tancor I Condominium in Barangay Mabolo after they were promised a job abroad in exchange for money.

The complainants Patrick Henri George, Vanzen Gregory George, Sharon Abego, Christopher George and Duffi Songa alleged that the suspect offered them work abroad.

The complainants said the suspect befriended to them on November 15, 2010 while they were having dinner in a restaurant. Alkazim introduced himself as a judge from the United Arab Emirates and a licensed recruiter.

According to the complainants, Alkazim claimed to have connections in the government making it easy for him to deploy workers abroad. Dreaming of having a stable work abroad, the complainants went to Alkazim’s house on November 17 to submit the requirements for travel abroad.

The complainants said they submitted their passports and paid P160,000 to start the processing of their papers. On top of it the suspect demanded additional P43,000, P50,000 and P48,000, respectively.

On December 6, 2010, Patrick and Abego flew to Manila upon the advised of the suspect because they were allegedly scheduled to leave abroad on the 14th of the same month.

But, the victims found out that there were no plane tickets for them in Manila much less jobs waiting for them abroad. The complainants said they tried to contact Alkazim but he was no longer available.

The complainants sought the assistance of the police on January 5. An entrapment operation was hatched resulting to the arrest of Alkazim. The police found out that the suspect was not authorized by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to recruit workers for abroad.

The police are set to file additional charges against Alkazim after 11 more complainants have filed complaints yesterday before the Theft and Robbery Section.

The additional complainants appeared before the police headquarters after learning the arrest of Alkazim.

According to them, they were also promised jobs abroad in exchange for money.   (FREEMAN NEWS)