Italian national, five others charged for human trafficking, illegal detention

London-based Italian national Adel En Nouri and five others are facing additional charges after two more victims came forward and filed complaints of qualified human trafficking and serious illegal detention before the Lipa City Prosecutor’s Office.

The new complainants alleged that the suspects recruited them for supposed overseas jobs but later forced them to perform lewd shows for online clients.

Aside from Nouri, the complaint also named Norminda Sope Esperila, Angelito de Guzman, Fatima Arfaqui, Yuness En Nouri, and Mohammed En Nouri as respondents.

False recruitment scheme

In their six-page complaint, the victims recounted that on 10 January 2025, they were approached by Esperila and De Guzman while working as sales associates at SM City Lipa.

The suspects introduced themselves as part of the human resources department of Tamber International Placement Agency, claiming they were hiring workers for deployment to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as sales associates with high salaries and free accommodations.

Convinced that the job offer was legitimate, the complainants went to the agency’s office at AMC Building, JP Laurel St., Barangay Paninsingin, Lipa City, to begin processing their applications.

At the office, their recruiters arranged a video call via Facebook with Adel, who allegedly owns the recruitment agency.

During the conversation, Adel reportedly told them that his company had already deployed many Filipinos to the UAE “because of his connections.”

The victims said the agency required them to pay ₱80,000 as placement fee, though they were allowed to make an initial payment of ₱10,000.

Forced exploitation

According to the complaint, on 20 January 2025, Adel instructed the applicants to work at the agency’s office as “virtual assistants” while waiting for their deployment, allegedly to help settle the remaining balance of their placement fees.

They were introduced to Arfaoui, who identified herself as the agency’s UAE recruiter responsible for customer care and the departure process of Filipino workers.

However, the victims said Sope and Esperila soon began arranging video calls with foreign clients while they worked as virtual assistants.

“Initially these were just simple conversations, but later, we were instructed to flirt and show lewd acts to the people we were talking to,” the complainants stated.

The recruiters promised them ₱5,000 per video session, but later withheld the payments, claiming the money would go toward the remaining placement fees.

The victims said they were threatened with cancellation of their applications and forfeiture of their payments if they refused to perform for the clients.

“For ten days, we were made to undress and have sex in front of the camera while being watched by foreign customers…,” the complainants said.

They added that they were not allowed to leave the office without permission and that their mobile phones were confiscated.

The complainants identified Yuness and Mohammed as among those who watched their coerced performances.

Escape and previous cases

On 9 February 2025, the victims managed to escape from the agency’s office while the guards were distracted speaking with other customers.

“We managed to leave secretly and immediately sought help from family to report to the authorities,” the complaint read.

To recall, Adel En Nouri and several others were previously charged with qualified human trafficking before the Bacoor City Prosecutor’s Office, while a similar complaint was filed before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office by two other Filipino women who also accused the foreigner of forcing them to perform online sex shows.

The new cases add to the growing list of complaints involving Nouri and his alleged network of recruiters accused of preying on jobseekers through fraudulent overseas employment offers.