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Benkei
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Oct 29, 2010
Conman jailed 3 years
By Elena Chong
A CLEANING company manager who duped 19 Filipino maids of about $200,000 by making them believe that he could get jobs for their family members and relatives jobs was jailed for three years on Friday. Abdul Rahim Osman, 43, pleaded guilty to six of 19 charges of cheating the domestic workers of between $15,400 and $27,800 last year. In all, he collected $209,900 as 'processing fees'' for 238 applicants, each having to pay between $700 and $1,100.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Paul Wong said that between February and December last year, Abdul Rahim befriended Filipino maids at places such as Lucky Plaza and induced them into believing that he was able to bring their family members and relatives over to work as janitors and cleaners at Resorts World Sentosa or Marina Bay Sands integrated resorts.
The unsuspecting victims would collect money from their relatives and friends seeking employment and hand the money over to Abdul Rahim, who never had the intention to provide any employment services for the applicants. To convince them, he made short trips to the Philippines to create the false impression that he was indeed processing the applications.
Eight police reports were lodged by some victims while the rest complained through Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) or the Philippines Embassy. Pressing for a stiff sentence, DPP Wong cited Abdul Rahim's long list of convictions; the high degree of planning and scheming involved and said the offences might hurt and tarnish the reputation of Singapore. Abdul Rahim could have been jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined for each offence.
