Hong Kong employers of Filipina helper who died in China arrested

The Hong Kong employers of a Filipina helper who fell to her death in mainland China last month were arrested yesterday.

A police source told the SCMP that the married couple was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and later released on bail. They will have to report to the police next month.

The suspects, a 47-year-old man surnamed Gu and a 32-year-old woman surnamed Liu, are being investigated by the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau. They are suspected of having made a “false statement to the relevant government department”, claiming that their helper would only work in Hong Kong.

Their employee, 28-year-old Lorain Asuncion, died in Shenzhen on July 24. She had reportedly been sent to China alone to work for her employers’ relative. The case, which was handed over to the police by the Immigration Department, has been described by both governmental bodies as “suspected human trafficking”.

Asuncion was hired by the couple in October 2016, and had been taken to mainland China around four times between then and her death. Her aunt, Susan Escorial, previously told the SCMP that Asuncion was scared of going to China because she did not speak Mandarin and could not access social media to communicate with her family.

On her last visit, Escorial said Asuncion was “even more afraid because she would not be with her real employer”.

Foreign domestic helpers are only contractually bound to work in their employer’s residence to perform domestic duties. Currently, it is illegal to hire foreign maids for personal services in mainland China. Employers are liable to a maximum fine of RMB100,000 (HKD117,350), and foreign workers can be subjected to 15 days in prison and a five-year entry ban.

Last year, a 23-year-old Filipino domestic helper surnamed Rosgen said she was tricked into working in mainland China for 10 days by her employer, who initially told her they would be going on a family holiday. Rosgen, who said at the time that she would terminate her contract, also accused an immigration officer of ignoring her written plea for help.