This recruiter has allegedly scammed 'hundreds' of Filipino migrant workers. Some are now homeless
CBC
This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.
Read this story in Tagalog. / Basahin ang artikulo na ito sa Tagalog.
For more than a decade, Jeanett Moskito has sold the Canadian dream.
Her company's social media account is plastered with hundreds of photos and videos of beaming foreign workers, each holding a work permit — their golden ticket to building a new life in Canada.
Moskito — who is not a lawyer or an immigration consultant — is also in the pictures. As a self-styled recruiter, she helps newcomers find jobs in Canada through her two companies Link4Staff and Berderald Consulting.
The Filipino woman appears as a benevolent figure, smiling and shaking hands with clients, congratulating them publicly in uplifting posts like, "This achievement was possible because of your positive thinking and trust."
But CBC News found that Moskito has frequently abused that trust.
A months-long investigation reveals she is one of the Ontario Ministry of Labour's most notorious repeat offenders, caught 35 times taking payments from dozens of foreign workers in exchange for finding them jobs — which is illegal across Canada.
So far, Moskito's punishment has been to pay back the money she took illegally — a total of about $200,000 — along with paying a handful of ministry-imposed $250 fines.
Seven former clients have also taken her to small claims court, alleging she charged illegal fees and refused to refund them when confronted.
Philippines consulates in Canada and Israel have even issued warnings against using her services, urging "all our kababayan [fellow citizens] to refrain from dealing with Ms. Moskito and her associated entities who ask for excessive fees in exchange for fraudulent job offers."
Yet the 52-year-old continues to be open for business — posting ads on the Government of Canada's official job bank as recently as October.
Moskito did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.
WARNING: This story contains details of sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
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