THE office on Roxas Boulevard dangled a “get-rich-quickly-abroad” scheme to starry-eyed, cash empty Filipinos. It offered elusive U.S. visas to applicants drunk with their own dreams. For exciting bonus, the firm also guaranteed to help clients land jobs in America with salaries not less than $1,200. Nobody had a clue that they were just being promised what they only wanted to hear.

The firm turned out to be a fake visa and large-scale illegal recruitment syndicate which has victimized hundreds of Filipinos trying to land high-paying jobs in the United States since 2006. It was smashed by agents of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in cooperation with U.S. Embassy officials 5 p.m Wednesday, officials said yesterday.

Read more: CIDG Busts Fake US Visa Ring!