A local Filipina was arrested on Tuesday for defrauding 26 Filipinos out of a total of 500,000 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lei Chi Hou said during a special press conference yesterday.
Lei identified the suspect as a 50-year-old local Filipina businesswoman surnamed Mangilit. The victims are 26 Filipinos, comprising 11 males and 15 females.
According to Lei, between June 21 and last Friday, the police received reports from the 26 victims who told the police that they were defrauded by Mangilit in job scams, with losses ranging from 14,000 to 22,000 patacas, totalling 500,000 patacas.
Lei noted that in October, the victims learnt from compatriots and through Facebook that Mangilit was wanting to hire Filipinos to work at a Japanese restaurant in the peninsula’s Avenida de Horta e Costa neighbourhood.
After communicating via social media and adding each other on WeChat, the victims travelled to Macau to meet Mangilit in person. At her request, they each paid a fee ranging from 14,000 to 22,000 patacas in cash for applying for “non-resident worker documents”. Mangilit then signed receipts and promised that the “documents” would be processed within two months.
The police discovered that between October and June, Mangilit had received fees amounting to 500,000 patacas from the 26 victims. According to the victims’ statements to the police, Mangilit claimed to be the manager of the Japanese restaurant and claimed that she could arrange non-resident worker (NRW) permits (colloquially known as “blue cards”) for them. However, after paying the purported fees, they only received signed receipts from Mangilit. She then used various excuses to delay the process, refused to refund the fees, and the victims eventually lost contact with her. The victims, unable to work in Macau and unable to recover their payments for the fees, reported the case to the police for assistance.
Lei added that it has meanwhile been confirmed that Mangilit is the operator of the Japanese restaurant. However, the restaurant did not have any quotas for non-resident workers available for the victims to apply for, apart from the existing quotas currently in use. Additionally, Mangilit had no records of any applications for “blue cards” on behalf of the victims.
The police apprehended Mangilit on Tuesday in Rua do Patane (沙梨頭街). Under questioning, Mangilit admitted to defrauding the victims and claimed that all the money had been spent on daily operational expenses. However, she refused to provide additional information on the case.
Mangilit was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing a fraud charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded fraud suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
