'I was desperate'

Employment scam victim says back-door deal was his last hope

Corey Robinson, Staff Reporter

Twenty-six-year-old Richard Benjamin, one of about 40 persons scammed in an overseas employment racket exposed by The Sunday Gleaner last week, said he opted for the "back-door deal" because he was desperate.

The young father, who hails from Bull Bay in St Andrew, said he grew frustrated after his application to participate in the Ministry of Labour's overseas work programme was denied twice.

Benjamin wanted to work in Canada, but said he welcomed an opportunity to work in the United States or elsewhere.

"I blame it on myself, because how stupid can a man be? But I blame it on the Government, too," charged Benjamin, who visited The Gleaner's North Street, downtown Kingston offices last Wednesday in search of his passport.

The document was among several obtained by our news team two weeks ago after they were dumped in a section of the Corporate Area.

DENIED TWICE

Benjamin, who described himself as a certified welder and professional truck driver, said the labour ministry turned him down in 2010 and in 2011.

He said on both occasions, he was given no reason for his rejection. Against that background, he tried to circumvent the official process.

"When you go through the process the right way, it's like nothing nuh happen fi you. You have to give somebody something. I know that it is because I never had a back-door deal why I didn't get through," said Benjamin, a wry smile accompanying his comment.

"I know that I am qualified enough. I have level-three and level-two certificate in welding, and all Canada needs is a level two. I have more than what Canada needs, and the people them (Ministry of Labour) still have a problem," Benjamin added.

He said his police record is also "clean", as he has never been in trouble with the law.

According to Benjamin, it is the "corruption" in "the system" that forced him to venture outside of the law.

Like many of the other victims, Benjamin's ordeal started last August after he was told about the programme by a female friend.

He remembered leaving a church service to answer that woman's telephone call, and said that it was then that he was told about a $7,000 processing fee.

That money was put together through loans from his mother and his daughter's mother.

He submitted his passport, birth certificate and other documents to the female friend. She was to send them via a courier to the "link" inside the Labour Ministry known only as 'Dudley Thomas'.

Initially, Benjamin said, the plan was for Thomas to contact his victims with a date on which they would be interviewed by officials at the United States Embassy.

That plan changed two weeks later, however, when Benjamin was informed, through his friend, that instead of waiting for a date, his passport would be taken directly to the United States Embassy and a visa to that country stamped into the book.

RED FLAG RAISED

Several other victims he knows personally were told the same thing and they believed. For him, however, that revelation raised red flags about the venture.

"From me hear him say that him have a friend at the embassy that is going to stamp the visa in my book, I know that is scam mi get," Benjamin told The Sunday Gleaner.

"I know that nothing can't go so. You can't just get a visa like that. You have to go up to the US Embassy for an interview."

Confessing that he would have been happy if the back-door deal had materialised, Benjamin said he hopes the police arrests the conman, whom he described as "wicked" for fleecing his victims of their money and charging them a fee of $2,000 afterwards for the safe return of their passports.

The passports obtained by The Sunday Gleaner were last week turned over to the police Flying Squad.

That unit will arrange with the relevant agencies to have the passports returned to the victims.

Late last week, head of the Flying Squad, Senior Superintendent Cornwall 'Bigga' Ford, told The Sunday Gleaner that not many victims have turned up to retrieve their passports.

He said the police are making progress in their investigation into the scam and into the whereabouts and true identity of Dudley Thomas.

Name changed upon request.