Local contractor suspected of employing illegal worker

A 52-year-old resident and owner of a civil construction company is accused of employing an illegal worker from the mainland, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) informed media yesterday during the police forces’ joint press conference.
The case was revealed by a complaint made to the PSP indicating that illegal workers were being used in the renovation an apartment located in a building at Rua Central.
The PSP dispatched officers to the location, who discovered three men in the apartment. While conducting identification checks, the police realized that one of the men was a resident of Macau and the owner of the apartment. The other two were a non-resident worker from the mainland, who was lawfully employed by the contractor, and his son, a man without documents allowing him to work in Macau, who had entered the region on a tourist visa.
On investigation, the man suspected of being an illegal worker told the police that he had followed his father to Macau for work, intending to learn how to carry out wall painting. He also told the police that he was earning 400 patacas per day for this work.
In the course of police questioning, the company owner denied that the man was employed by him. He said that he was aware that the father had the intention of bringing his son to observe the work and learning how to perform it only. He also claimed not to be paying any salary or compensation for the man’s work.
According to the PSP spokesperson, and despite the contradictory statements, the force claims to have gathered enough evidence to show that the man found in the apartment was working and had been hired for paid work.
Following this evidence, the PSP decided to refer the case to the Public Prosecutions Office with the owner of the apartment accused of employing an illegal worker. RM