(Eagle News)—-Three Filipino call center employees were sentenced to five months in prison in Hong Kong after they opened bank accounts there using forged documents, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
In a statement, the DFA said the three were meted out a “reduced sentence for pleading guilty to two counts of “using a false instrument” before the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts.
The DFA said the call center employees went to Hong Kong as tourists in October last year and managed to open the bank accounts at the Bank of China and Standard Chartered Bank, but were arrested when they returned there on Oct. 12.
Authorities suspected the accounts would be used for money laundering.
Consul General Antonio A. Morales told the DFA main office the Philippine Consulate General was providing “in-kind support and legal advice to the three Filipinos, including jail visits to ascertain their condition.”
