THE Supreme Court has sentenced an illegal recruiter to 12 to 14 years imprisonment and fined him P1 million for duping a prospective overseas Filipino worker into parting with his money and vehicle as payment for the processing of a non-existent work in Australia.
In an 18-page decision promulgated on April 12, 2023 but only made public yesterday, the High Court’s Second Division affirmed the Court of Appeals ruling convicting Lee Saking alias Lee Saking Sanniban for illegal recruitment and estafa.
The appellate court earlier upheld the decision of Branch 8 of the La Trinidad, Benguet Regional Trial Court convicting Saking based on the complaint lodged by Jan Denver Palasi.
In his complaint, Palasi said he met Saking in 2013 at a car repair shop where he was having his Mitsubishi Delica van repaired.
Saking, court records showed, presented himself to Palasi as someone looking for people interested to work in Australia as grape and apple pickers with a required placement fee of P300,000.
Interested but short of funds, Palasi offered his van as payment and agreed to pay an additional P100,000 in cash. He was made to fill out forms which he gave to Saking, together with his passport.
Palasi told the court he paid Saking P100,000 in three installments but was never given any official receipt by the latter.
When Saking could no longer be contacted after receiving the money, Palasi said he went to the agency where Saking claimed to work, where he was told he had no pending application with the agency.
When he inquired with the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, he was told that Saking had no license to recruit workers for overseas employment, prompting him to file charges against the latter.
One of the prosecution’s witnesses, Alberto Silvada, a mechanic who repaired Palasi’s Delica van, also told the court that Saking also promised his son a job in Australia despite his lack of POEA license to recruit overseas workers.
In upholding his conviction, the High Court said the prosecution was able to able to prove the elements of illegal recruitment against Saking.
“There are only two elements to sustain a conviction for illegal recruitment. Here, the prosecution has aptly proven that Saking has no valid license or authority required by law to enable him to lawfully engage in the recruitment and placement of workers; and that he has advertised employment abroad, for profit through a placement fee,” the SC ruling penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez.
“The CA did not err in finding that Saking is guilty for the crime of illegal recruitment,” the SC added.
