MANILA, Philippines -- The Manila police had arrested and charged a man with estafa and large-scale illegal recruitment after he allegedly defrauded five persons of about P350,000 in processing fees for nonexistent jobs in Macau.

Rexor Magpayo, 42, of A. Rivera Street in Tondo, was nabbed on Feb. 14 at SM Manila by members of the District Special Project Unit while receiving P1,800 in marked bills from one of his victims, Stephen Tan.

Police, however, are still looking for Magpayo?s cohort, Beth Cortes Kataoka, said to be the manager of the Job Trade and Ascent Human Resources Recruitment Agency on Vito Cruz Street, Malate.

In their joint affidavit, Tan, Darwin Amparo, Soshiel Amparo, Demosthenes Amparo and Elsa Santos said that last August, the suspects promised them jobs in Macau hotels with a monthly salary of P80,000 plus overtime.

The five said they were asked to pay P15,000 each for the processing of their passports and medical clearances.

A few weeks later, the victims said they gave Magpayo P75,000 at the food court of SM Manila. In turn, he told them that they would be leaving for Macau in a month?s time.

But after some time, the five said they were forced to pay Magpayo an additional fee of P55,000 each. According to the suspect, they would have to pay the fee if they wanted to leave right away because a lot of people were applying for the same posts, the victims added.

When Magpayo still failed to make good on his promise to send them to Macau, the five victims said they tried to get their money back but were told by the suspect to meet him on Feb. 12 at SM Manila, the day of their supposed departure.

Magpayo, however, failed to show up on that day but told the victims to meet him on Feb. 14 at the mall and bring P1,800 each ?for the processing of additional travel documents.?

The victims said that at this point, they decided to seek the help of the police to have the suspect arrested.

Upon his arrest, the police charged Magpayo with violating Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code (estafa) and large-scale illegal recruitment.