NBI-7 arrests woman for illegal recruitment

CEBU, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-Cevro) has arrested a woman allegedly involved in illegal recruitment.

The suspect identified as Juvelyn delos Trico, 27, of Lahug, Cebu City who was arrested in an entrapment operation conducted by the operatives of NBI-7 in a mall in Cebu City last April 27, 2021.

NBI-7 director, Atty. Renan Oliva, said two complainants sought their assistance after allegedly being scammed by delos Trico who offered them jobs as customer service representatives in Singapore and Dubai.

“Ang ilang trabaho kuno, represented by this delos Trico is U-Drive for customer service employees. Ang promise sa ila kay P80,000 to P90,000 a month ang ilang sweldo, free board and lodging, free airline ticket if mouli,” Oliva told reporters.

The suspect has collected over P200,000 from the victims for their supposed processing fee.

“Ang usa ka complainant niabot og P190k ang iyang nabayad kay ang iyang credit card gigamit hasta sa airplane ticket from Manila-Singapore to Dubai nga libre man unta ang ticket maoy promise sa ila,” Oliva added.

Sheena Mae Faustino, one of the complainants, said that she trusted delos Trico since they were co-workers before in a BPO company.

“Iya kong gi-recruit kay mag-direct hiring daw sila so mao to sige na syag pangayo nako og kwarta para sa akong papeles unya walay travel agency ni kay direct hire,” Faustino said.

“Sige na ko padalag kwarta sa iyang mama sa kaning suspect namo si Juvelyn unya at the time nga nangayo na kog documents wala naman na syay ikapakita,” she furthered.

Oliva said the victims were asked to submit their passports, medical certificate and other documents for their employment.

The recruitment started in 2019 and victims were promised to be deployed in 2020 but until now nothing happened.

The “direct hire” scheme was made through Facebook messenger under the account name Kyrie Ghat Cruz, Ghat Dela Cruz de los Trico and Zeke Kyrie.

Delos Trico denied she is into illegal recruitment and that she just helped her friends to have a job abroad. She though asked forgiveness from the victims.

“Pasayloa ko sa akong gibuhat kun unsa man gani willing ko mo-settle nila sa kadtong amount na akong nakuha,” she said.

She is now facing estafa and illegal recruitment charges in relations to the cybercrime law before the prosecutor’s office.

Aside from the victims of the alleged illegal recruitment, another victim named Dominic Largo also showed up at the NBI-7 claiming that he too fell victim of delos Trico who swayed him to form a corporation.

The fruit vendor said he was able to give delos Trico at least P50,000.

Delos Trico admitted the claim of Largo but said she lost the money.

“Nawagtang nako ang kwarta maong wala ko kahibalo unsa akong buhaton,” she said. — GMR (FREEMAN)