One of the clients of the woman arrested for allegedly operating a job and visa scam has come forward to speak to St. Lucia News Online about what she experienced.
The victim, who will not be named, resides in an area close to where the woman is known to operate from.
“About a little over 3 weeks ago a close friend of my family contacted me and told me he had his good friend who was giving opportunities for people to go to Martinique. He also said i would have to provide $425 EC to complete the process which is the ticket to go to Martinique and the permit,” she said.
“He also added that if I didn’t have a passport I would have to pay $200 more and 4 passport photos signed by a JP because the lady can also get me a passport,” she added.
She was so excited that she mentioned the whole thing to family members and friends who also became interested in the offer.
She, along with a male companion who was also interested, met up with the woman at a bus stop where they handed over a total of $625 EC to the lady. At this point, with the spread of the news to her family members, her brother also got interested and so she ended up handing over a further $425 EC to the woman for what she believed was her brother’s ticket to Martinique.
The two, trying to get more information on the jobs available, were told that the salary would be €3000 a month and that the jobs available range from construction and farming for men to housekeeping and cooking for women. The enormous sum left the victims baffled and excited as it also included food and accommodation covered by the employer.
Things only began to go south when a guy, whom she loaned money to in order to apply for the jobs in Martinique, started to doubt the authenticity of the woman’s claims due to rumors which were circulating at the time. The same man had said he would give her back the money that she lent him and when this did not materialize, she called the lady and mentioned that the guy was having doubts and now wanted his money and passport back.
“She had numerous passports”
When the two met up with the woman again at the bus stop the woman had along with her a gym bag full of passports:
“she came with a gym bag with countless, and I mean countless estimated over 80, passports looking for the guys passport,” she said.
When the passport was found the guy handed over back the money that she loaned him, the lady offering the jobs then told them that the persons were leaving on the 5th of November for Martinique.
“I called a few times and she said paper work was in process but since the lady was so overwhelmed with ppl wanting to go its going to take a little longer,” she said.
She is now trying to recover her passport and money.
During her last call she was told that she needs to go to the Criminal Investigations Department as they now had all the documents which were confiscated from the woman.
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