MANILA, Philippines—A professional basketball coach and five others have been charged before a Quezon City court for allegedly promising false jobs in the United States and Canada to four complainants in 2007.

Facing a case of syndicated estafa (fraud) and large-scale illegal recruitment are Kenneth Duremdes, coach of the Coca-Cola Tigers in the current Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Emerflor Mangisay Jr., Voicel Gutierrez, Librado Anacay, Alfredo Briones, and Corazon Panganiban.

The charges were filed before Judge Jose Panda of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 220 last week after a resolution from the Department of Justice.

Syndicated estafa has a bail of P40,000 for each respondent, while large-scale illegal recruitment is a non-bailable offense.

In a six-page resolution, DOJ state prosecutor Ramon Chito Mendoza recommended the
filing of charges against Duremdes and the five others after finding probable cause for their indictment.

“There is no question that the six respondents acting in conspiracy with each other have committed acts of recruitment and placement against the victims for having given the impression that they had the power to send the complainants to America and Canada for employment,” it read.

Records showed that the four complainants—Arnold Bau, Lene Grace Talatag, Rosemarie Manalo, and Hannah June Nalcot—filed a complaint before the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

They alleged that sometime between December 2006 and 2007, they were recruited by the respondents “and have assured them of employment particularly in the United States and Canada” as caregivers.

The overseas jobs reportedly offered promised a monthly salary of $1,000 while the complainants paid between P75,000 and P113,000 as placement and processing fees.

The complainants told the CIDG that the promised jobs did not materialize.

In September 2008, Briones was caught during an entrapment operation in Greenhills in San Juan City after receiving money from another complainant, Julieta Franco.

But Franco later executed an affidavit of desistance during the inquest proceedings, which resulted in the dismissal of the case against Briones, and his release.

The DOJ, however, conducted a preliminary investigation against Briones, Panganiban, Santos, and additional respondents Duremdes, Mangisay, Anacay, and Gutierrez.

A check by the CIDG with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed the respondents were not authorized to recruit and deploy workers for overseas jobs.

Mendoza said the lack of an authorization from the POEA and the statements of the complainants is sufficient enough to satisfy the minimum evidentiary requirement for probable cause against the respondents.

“In the same vein, the acts of the accused of deliberately misrepresenting themselves to the complainants as having the authority to recruit for employment abroad, so that they could collect money for processing fees, only to renege on their promise, clearly amounts to estafa,” he added.

Mendoza also noted that during the preliminary investigation, the respondents failed to appear and submit any counter-affidavit despite the subpoenas issued to them.