Two Filipino maids were charged in a court in Hong Kong this week with conspiring to use fake documents when they applied for visas to work in the United Kingdom nearly two years ago.
No plea was taken from the defendants – Criselda M. Bantasan, 31, and Cristy C. Par, 47, at the Eastern Magistrates Court on Thursday, sunwebhk.com reported.
The women were granted bail for HK$1,000 (US$127) in cash each. Duty lawyers said their employers would put up the bail money and allow them to stay at their respective houses.
According to the report, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office confirmed that the pair were identified by police as owners of the alleged fake documents which named the employers of Bantasan and Par. Bantasan’s employment contract was processed in 2014, while Par’s contract was processed in 2012.
The court heard that on April 1 and May 30 last year, Bantasan and Par respectively went to apply for an overseas domestic worker’s visa at the UK Visa Application Centre in Causeway Bay.
They have been accused of conspiring with a certain ‘Ms Chan’ and other unknown people to submit copies of fake documents to support their visa applications. These included a bank statement from their employers, letters purportedly written by their employers and sent to the British Consulate, plus an employer’s statement and copies of pages in their passports.
The defendants were told to appear at the court again on March 15, before the case is transferred to the District Court.