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An employment agent was jailed today (December 14) for being in possession of false instruments while assisting a foreign domestic helper to change employer in Hong Kong.

Ho Chi-man Amy, 23, the officer-in-charge of an employment agency, was charged with two counts of possessing false instruments while helping an Indonesian foreign domestic helper look for a new employer.

The defendant appeared in Shatin Magistrate's Court and pleaded guilty to the charges. She was sentenced to three months imprisonment on each charge, sentences to run concurrently.

The court heard that the Indonesian domestic helper approached the defendant in 2003 asking for assistance to look for a new employer because she had been prematurely terminated. The defendant provided the helper some supporting documents including the prospective employer's identity card, residential proof, a supporting letter, an employment contract, employment visa application form signed by the employer and his financial proof for the helper to file with the Immigration Department.

The helper paid the defendant $1,500 as agency fee for the arrangement.

The department later found out the prospective employer had never seen the helper. He had once approached the defendant for a new domestic helper but stopped seeking her services. He had never signed any documents in support of the Indonesian domestic helper's application.

"Under the laws of Hong Kong, anyone who has in his custody a false instrument commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for 14 years," the spokesman warned.

Ends/Tuesday, December 14, 2004

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