Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers prevented a 32-year-old woman from leaving the country for having a fake departure stamp in her passport in an attempt to illegally work abroad.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the victim, whose name was withheld in compliance with anti-trafficking laws, was supposed to board a Cebu Pacific Airlines flight to Vietnam but did not manage to get past the BI’s primary inspection.
“The victim arrived at the counter with her passport, which had a counterfeit departure stamp on it, attempting to convince the officer that she had completed the immigration departure procedures. She initially claimed to be a solo tourist in Vietnam for leisure,” said Viado.
In an interview, the victim revealed her travel plans, which included a trip to Thailand after her stay in Vietnam, intended to apply for an entry visa to Egypt, lured by the promise of an easy approval process.
The victim disclosed that recruiters initially demanded P80,000 for a counterfeit stamp to aid her departure, but she negotiated it down to P 65,000. A forensic analysis by the BI’s document laboratory confirmed that the presented stamp was counterfeit.
It’s significant to note that in the previous cases, the syndicates charged a hefty processing fee in exchange for false assurances that they would be able to pass through immigration without issues.
The victim was turned over to the custody of the Inter-Agency Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance in filing cases against her recruiters.
