A Filipino employment agent in Hong Kong was ordered by a magistrate’s court to compensate a domestic worker after overcharging her HK$20,000 (US$2,560) for a job in Russia.
On Tuesday, Gilda Flores Li, owner of Quality Consultants, an unlicensed recruitment agency, was charged in Kwun Tong Court with three counts of receiving payment other than the prescribed commission, sunwebhk.com reported.
The victim, Jean Lorena Sheel, who came to Hong Kong from the Philippines in 2011, said she applied for a job in Russia through Li’s agency on February 2, 2017. Li told her she needed to pay HK$10,000 in advance and another HK$10,000 when the invitation arrived within two weeks.
When Sheel finally completed her payment on April 25, Li told her that the visa could not be issued because there was a mistake in Sheel’s birth year on the invitation. Sheel asked Li to refund her money, but received no payment.
In Hong Kong, the maximum penalty for receiving payment other than the prescribed commission is HK$50,000.
On Friday, Li was found guilty of the charges and was ordered by the court to compensate the victim HK$12,000 and pay a fine of HK$10,000. Li was required to make the payment within three months.
The Philippine government recently announced that there are no jobs for Filipino domestic workers in Russia and those with tourist visas are not allowed to work in that country.