More than 1,400 passports, mostly belonging to Filipina domestic workers, were seized from the OFC loan company during a raid on their Sheung Wan office on Jun 5.
A 35-year-old man surnamed Wong, said to be the part owner of OFC Holding Limited and Cheers Holding Company Limited, was arrested for “breach of money lenders licence conditions” in an office in Central as he offered loans totaling more than HK$4 million (US$511,220) to more than 1,400 victims who needed to surrender their passports and employment contracts as collateral, sunwebhk.com reported.
Wong was released on bail and required to report back in mid-July. A local Chinese woman who had assisted some of OFC’s customers in getting their passports back from police at Wanchai Police Station said she was there to help.
She said about 200 Filipinas went to their office on Sunday to inquire about their passports after hearing about the police raid. However, she did not say why the company was asking for passports and employment contracts as collateral for the loans, despite well-publicized reports of police cracking down on money lenders who engage in such a practice.