A Hong Kong woman who allegedly provided fake documents for two Filipinas to fraudulently apply for United Kingdom work visas has been arrested by police.
The arrest was possible due to cooperation from two Filipina defendants, who had earlier pled guilty to conspiracy to use copies of false instruments. The two domestic workers assisted the police in identifying the woman as the Hong Kong connection of a Manila-based visa scam syndicate, sunwebhk.com reported.
The two Filipina defendants, 31-year-old Criselda Bantasan and 47-year-old Cristy Par, both domestic workers in Hong Kong, told the court earlier that they paid money to a Manila-based agency and the Hong Kong woman surnamed Chan for assistance in gaining visas that would entitle them to live and work in the United Kingdom.
They were told that they could get a job in Britain with a monthly salary of £1,000 (US$1,274).
Chan allegedly provided the two domestic workers with fake documents that they presented at the United Kingdom Visa Processing Center in Hong Kong on separate dates in 2016.
The two Filipinas were arrested and pled guilty at the time. Sentencing was originally due to be carried out on Friday.
As the prosecutor updated the court on how Chan was arrested in November last year, Judge Li Chi-ho adjourned the sentencing of the two Filipinas until May 6.
The defense lawyer told the court that their clients had been helping Hong Kong police since the day they were arrested and had assisted the police in nailing the Manila-based syndicate that conned them.
The court was told that after arresting Chan, the police raided her flat and seized more forged documents. But Chan’s partner, a man known only as Ronnie, had already fled to the Philippines, avoiding arrest.
Ronnie allegedly provided Bantasan and Par with the forged documents, particularly relating to the passports and bank statements of their supposed employers, that were believed to have been fabricated in Manila.