A local woman and three female non-resident workers (NRWs) from Vietnam were arrested separately last week for their involvement in fake employment, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Wong Wai Chon said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Wong identified the local woman as Lam, a casino PR staff member in her thirties, while the Vietnamese workers were identified as Nguyen in her fifties; Le, a domestic helper in her forties; and Dinh, a masseuse in her thirties. Nguyen worked for Lam as a domestic helper from 2008 to 2012 and again from 2017 to 2022, whereas Dinh and Le were illegally hired by Lam as domestic helpers from 2013 to 2015 and in 2023, respectively.
Based on a tip-off about fake employment, the Public Security Police (PSP) identified Lam as the employer who illegally hired four Vietnamese workers to assist them in obtaining blue cards. Nguyen, a former employee of Lam, introduced Dinh and Le, along with two other Vietnamese women, to Lam. Lam illegally hired Le to help her obtain a blue card (work permit) and received 16,000 patacas as “remuneration” from her.
The police apprehended Lam in her flat in Areia Preta (黑沙環) last Monday. Under questioning, Lam admitted to illegally hiring Le in 2023 for 16,000 patacas at Nguyen’s request to assist her “relatives” to obtain a blue card and find a job. However, Lam claimed when questioned by police that she was unaware of the blue-card applications for the other three Vietnamese women. Lam told the police that after Nguyen left her job for the first time, she asked her to sign multiple documents under the pretext of “changing job” and “applying for a visa.” Lam suspected that the blue-card applications of the other three were related to those signed documents.
Wong noted that Nguyen, Le, and Dinh were summoned to a police station on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. Under questioning, Le and Dinh admitted to contacting Lam through Nguyen for assistance in applying for their blue cards, while Nguyen claimed that she did not receive any financial benefit from the arrangement. At the time of the press conference yesterday afternoon, police were still investigating the other two Vietnamese workers illegally hired by Lam between 2013 and 2015.
The four suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of involvement in abetting fake employment.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows PSP officers escorting the local employer and the Vietnamese “intermediary” in the fake employment case involving a local woman and three Vietnamese non-resident workers (NRWs) to a police station.
