“Illegal recruiter” indicted

CEBU, Philippines - The Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor has indicted a woman before the court for illegal recruitment and estafa.

Prosecutor III Aida Sanchez held Elaine May Jimenea, a resident of Capitol Site, Cebu City, for trial after finding probable cause for the cases of illegal recruitment and estafa filed against her. 

“ …that on the basis of the sworn statement and other evidence submitted before me there is reasonable ground to believe that the crime has been committed and that the accused herein is probably guilty thereof,” read the document.

 Sanchez recommended a P24,000 bail for Jimenea’s illegal recruitment charge and P18,000 bail for the estafa case.

 Annabel Sumbilla, a resident of Basak, Lapu-Lapu City, sued Jimenea before the Prosecutor’s Office for her alleged failure to deploy her for employment abroad without a valid reason.

Sumbilla alleged that Jimenea recruited her to work in a restaurant in Dubai as she believed that Jimenea was a qualified recruitment agent.

 “Yes, I told her that I was interested in applying for the position as accounting staff because that fits my qualifications,” the affidavit read.

 Sumbilla was told the positions available were accounting staff, inventory officer, waiters, cooks and others.

 Sumbilla reportedly paid Jimenea P35,000 as processing fee and complied with all the requirements. However, Jimenea failed to deploy her.

 She later learned that Jimenea has no permit from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to deploy workers abroad.

 Jimenea allegedly failed to reimburse the amount Sumbilla paid her.   (FREEMAN)