MANILA, Philippines — A 63-year old Japanese and three of his Filipino employees were arrested by agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for alleged illegal recruitment.
Sato Kenichi of JAPCOM Training Center, administration registrar Cynthia Banares, 45, Japanese language instructor Carlo Banares, 31, and office staff Jessie Escalderon, 32, were arrested in an entrapment operation at their office in Ermita, Manila on Tuesday, November 21.
The suspects were the subjects of complaints by some 35 people who said they had been recruited and promised jobs in Japan after paying processing fees and for training they were required to take. However, months after, the jobs had yet to materialize.
A check by the CIDG with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Department of Labor and Employment confirmed that JAPCOM is not licensed to recruit and train people for overseas work.
The CIDG then set the entrapment with one of JAPCOM’s victims delivering P26,000 in marked money — the amount the agency had been repeatedly demanding from him — which was received by Cynthia Banares with the other suspects present.
The Japanese and his Filipino cohorts underwent inquest proceedings at the Manila prosecutor’s office and have been charged with large-scale illegal recruitment.
