Italian traders, Filipino partners sued for illegal recruitment

Two Italian businessmen and three of their Filipino associates may face criminal indictment for allegedly operating a manning agency which recruited Filipino seafarers without government-issued permits and licenses.

Charged by the National Bureau of Investigation with syndicated illegal recruitment were Italian nationals Sergio Constantini and Maurizio Caselli of True Alliance Shipping Corp. and their local partners Henry James Avecilla, Judith Cabrera and Lucky Philip Cabrera.

In a complaint it filed in the Mandaluyong City Prosecutor’s Office, the NBI said the respondents conspired with one another in using falsified documents to operate their business and hire Filipino seamen for their foreign clients.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed in the NBI by Leopoldo Arcilla Sr., president and general manager of Eagle Clarc Shipping Philippines Inc., who also accused the Italians of using a manning agency, Oceanus Maritime Crewing Services Inc., in enticing his former employees to work for them.

As claimed by Arcilla, the NBI found out that Caselli was not in the country when he supposedly signed the articles of incorporation of True Alliance on June 17, 2016.

It said Judith Cabrera also admitted that their company failed to get a manning license from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency.