This is not the kind of news you’d like to hear. Generally, the Filipinos in Korea are very hardworking and honest. However, there are always a few bad apples. In the news article published on Korea Times, a Filipino housemaid is convicted for swindling her employer for 244 million won or about 203,000 USD.
The Filipino housemaid in Korea is 56 years old and she came to the country in 2004 on a tourist visa. She has been staying in Korea illegally from that time. In 2014, she was employed as a housemaid and she talked her employer into lending money to other Filipino at a monthly interest of 10%. However, the Filipino housemaid spent the money on herself and used the names of her six friends to get the money. She started defrauding her employer from January 2014 to October 2014.
During the trial, the Filipino housemaid denied the charges but the court sentenced her to 14 months in jail for fraud and illegal immigration.
Read the full story from Korea Times.
I searched for the story on Korean news portal but I only found one source. It doesn’t say anything more or differently from the one on Korea Times.
Now for some questions regarding housemaids in Korea.
Is Korea open to hiring foreign housemaids? NO. There are Koreans who could do the work of housemaids.
Why are there Filipino housemaids in Korea? They are hired by foreign diplomats and executives of multinational corporations. They are the only ones allowed by law to “import” housemaids. There are some who are employed illegally by Koreans and other foreigners.
How much do housemaids earn? Based on the ads I see, they usually earn anywhere from 1.5 million to 2 million won a month. That’s equivalent to 60,000 pesos up to 80,000 pesos. And that explains why there are some who would rather risk it and work illegally ~