Government prosecutors have recommended the filing of large-scale illegal recruitment and estafa charges in court against Krizelle Respicio and Hilda Alojado in relation to the so-called Alpha Assistenza 400 scam.

The Department of Justice’s OSJ Prosecution Staff noted in a resolution covering NPS Docket XVI-INV-23L-00608 that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Respicio and Alojado over complaints that they took as much as 3,000 euros from each of the job aspirants.

The resolution gave weight to the assertions of seven of the 25 complainants that Respicio and Alojado, through their Milan-based company, Alpha Assistenza SRL, failed to facilitate their employment in Italy, thus the estafa or swindling aspect of the complaints.

It noted that the seven of the job-seekers made their payments in the Philippines, while the rest of the complainants dealt with and paid Alpha Assistenza through their relatives in Italy.

Prosecutors pointed out that crimes committed outside the Philippines, like those in Italy, cannot be prosecuted or tried locally.

Meanwhile, the complaints against Respicio and Alojado’s co-respondents — Edna Respicio, Arlyn Pangan and Liberty Ilagan — were dismissed for various reasons.

With the dismissal of the complaints against the three co-respondents, the cases against Alpha Assistenza did not rise to the level of syndicated illegal recruitment, according to a lawyer familiar with the resolution.

“Illegal recruitment is deemed committed by a syndicate if carried out by a group of three or more persons conspiring or confederating with one another,” the resolution said. “It is deemed large scale if committed against three or more persons.”

Motion for reconsideration

Some of those whose complaints were dismissed said they were planning to file a motion for reconsideration, arguing that the crimes of syndicated illegal recruitment and estafa should be correlated with the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (RA 10175).

They pointed out that the resolution noted that Krizelle added them and their relatives in Italy to a Facebook Messenger group chat she created. “All of Alpha’s updates, announcements, and respondent Krizelle’s instructions were posted therein,” according to the resolution.

However, regarding the 18 dismissed complaints, the resolution stated that the dealings and payments were made in Italy and are, thus, beyond the reach of the Philippine justice system. It added that these complaints also cannot be correlated with the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

“Based on the complainants’ narration, there is no evidence that the illegal recruitment and estafa were committed through and with the use of information and communication technologies, in order to relate the offenses to the provisions of Section 21 of RA 10175, which has extraterritorial application,” the resolution said.

The case stemmed from an advisory issued by the Italian government in March 2023, allowing the direct hiring of foreign workers in the hospitality, food and agricultural sectors.

Alpha Assistenza SRL, through its co-CEOs Krizelle Respicio and alleged partner Frederick Dutaro, sought to recruit Filipinos for those job postings in exchange for fees as high as 3,000 euros each. Dutaro was not named in the complaint.

The Alpha 400 “scam” came to public and government attention, including agencies like the Department of Migrant Workers, the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs, after some complainants appeared on several episodes of DAILY TRIBUNE’s digital show Usapang OFW to recount their ordeal.

They claimed Consul General to Milan Elmer Cato failed to act on their complaints against Respicio and Dutaro.

As reported by Daily Tribune at the time, Filipinos in Italy noted the alleged closeness between Respicio and Cato and to patronatos like Alpha Assistenza, which facilitated transactions for Filipinos in Italy.

Some of these Filipinos have since asked the DFA to recall Cato, who in turn filed libel charges with the Angeles City prosecutor’s office against DAILY TRIBUNE editors and management, as well as several alleged victims of Alpha Assistenza.

Other cases against Alpha Assistenza are pending with government prosecutors. The case came to be known as Alpha 400 for the about 200 Filipinos in Italy who were reported to have sought jobs for their relatives in the Philippines.

In February, the Senate investigated the plight of the Alpha Assistenza “victims,” with Senator Raffy Tulfo asking Cato, “What’s wrong with you, sir?” in reference to the libel complaints he filed against those scammed by Alpha Assistenza.

During the hearing, Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega revealed that the agency had ordered Cato to “disassociate” himself from the patronatos.

Cato found a defender in Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who during the probe grilled the complainants against Alpha and Cato, as well as Daily Tribune resource persons, for exposing the story publicly.

In August, Angeles City Prosecutor Oliver Garcia dismissed the 17 counts of libel filed by Cato against the newspaper’s editors and management, as well as those against the complainants.

Garcia cited both a lack of jurisdiction and probable cause to bring Cato’s complaint to court, noting that as a government official, he should not be thin-skinned regarding public reactions to his actions.

Some of the private complainants noted that efforts had been made by certain parties for them to disown the statements they gave to Daily Tribune in exchange for Cato withdrawing the libel complaints against them.