THE Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor has found probable cause to indict two women for allegedly fooling three persons into paying “placement fees” for bogus jobs as apple pickers in California.

Assistant City Prosecutor Roy Carrillo downgraded the original complaint of syndicated illegal recruitment, but found basis to proceed with a charge for large-scale illegal recruitment and estafa against The-resita Catamco and Julieta Reyes.

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“Respondents recruited complainants for overseas employment and in fact received money as processing and placement fees,” Carrillo said in the resolution approved by City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon.

The failure of respondents to actually send the complainants Jeffrey Parrotina and two others not named in the resolution, as well as their pretense they were authorized to offer jobs, constituted both large-scale illegal recruitment and estafa, Carrillo said.

According to the complainants, Catamco and Reyes recruited them in 2008. They all paid processing fees and placement fees but were never given any receipt.

“After a considerable period of time and after repeated demands, respondents failed to deploy the complainants or return the placement fees,” they said.

Syndicated illegal recruitment, according to Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers Act of 1995, is committed when three or more persons are involved in the commission of the crime.

Large-scale illegal recruitment, on the other hand, is committed when the number of persons victimized is three or more.

In both cases, the violation is deemed an act of economic sabotage if the respondents fail to reimburse the workers, beyond failing to deploy them for the promised jobs.

In which case, according to the law, the respondents are liable to get penalties of life imprisonment and a fine of not less than P500,000 if convicted.

In the case of Ca-tamco and Reyes, Car-rillo resolved to bring them to court after the two failed to answer the allegations against them.

“Subpoena was mailed to respondents on June 19, 2009 and to date, no evidence has been submitted on their behalf,” he said.