'Big-time' illegal recruiter falls in QC sting operation

An alleged illegal recruiter who has duped over 100 Filipinos looking for work abroad was arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Anti-Transnational Crime Unit (CIDG-ATCU) on Wednesday.
Eslyn Mae Crisologo Matutina, 31, was nabbed by authorities in an entrapment operation at Hi-Precision Laboratory Diagnostic Center in Quezon City at around 11 a.m.
Officials recovered P2,000 in marked P500 bills from Matutina, who will face charges of violating Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act.
ATCU Officer-in-Charge PCInsp Roque Merdegia Jr. said the suspect offered her victims jobs as cleaners and security personnel at a casino-hotel in Macau for P7,000 to P25,000.
The complainants sought help from the CIDG after Matutina failed to send them abroad despite having paid the placement fee.
Further investigation revealed that 10 workers processed by Matutina were prevented by airport authorities from boarding their flight after they failed to submit a letter from a Macau resident, one of the requirements for a tourist visa to the Chinese territory.
Matutina was immediately taken to the ATCU detention facility after her arrest. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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