Crime | Police crack down on fake employment arrangements

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have cracked down a large fake employment operation, apprehending a total of 17 suspects, according to a report by TDM.
In total, there are eight local suspects, including four ringleaders, and nine Vietnamese suspects, all female domestic helpers.
Police information shows that three employment agencies are suspected of fake employment practices, two of which have already suspended operations and one of which has been cracked down upon by the PJ.
This particular agency is accused of assisting over 100 Vietnamese nationals to stay in Macau under a fake employment arrangement. The company is suspected of engaging in approximately four years of illicit operations between 2016 and April 2020.
The police authority suspects the company of assisting these Vietnamese nationals to stay in Macau when they have already been fired from their jobs. In most situations, the individuals work as cleaners or waiters and waitresses when they are only legally allowed to work as domestic helpers.
The company is said to steal its customers’ information in order to process the employment status. Some of the employers were said to provide help voluntarily. The eight locals who were apprehended also used their own identity for fake employment.
For each rendered service, the company charged each individual 4,000 to 5,000 patacas. The police authority estimated a total of over 500,000 patacas profit from the four-year operation.
Over the past two days, the PJ apprehended these suspects, finding the 17 people in a total of 10 apartments.
The PJ have already remanded all 17 of them to the prosecution authority under the charge of document forgery and forming a criminal group.
DSAL reiterates
employment policies
After the PJ reported the case yesterday, the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) issued a statement regarding employment policies.
“DSAL expresses great concern regarding the case and is following up the case with the Judiciary Police,” the statement reads.
“DSAL hereby reiterates that non-resident domestic workers assist their employers with daily household chores, and applicants [employers] must apply for hiring a domestic helper according to their real conditions and actual needs.”
DSAL examines and approves an application based on various criteria, especially specific family circumstances.
When the bureau considers issuing an approval, the labor affairs authority combines the information and supporting documents submitted by the applicant with past violation records and other factors.
According to law No.32/94/M regarding the operation and licensing of employment agencies, the government has the right to revoke the license of an employment agency which carries out criminal operations.
In June, a total of 10 Macau local residents became suspects in the case of an organized fake employment business.
The Public Security Police Force accused one local man of assisting foreigners in becoming employed, presumably as domestic helpers, for over two years. In this case, the employee paid between 6,000 and 17,500 patacas to the employers.