PETALING JAYA: Employers are advised to be wary after several cases were reported of foreign domestic helpers borrowing money from illegal moneylenders before absconding to their country of origin.

       MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said all employers of domestic workers must be alert, especially to abrupt resignations.

       He said many employers had been caught by surprise when illegal moneylenders, or ah long, suddenly surfaced looking for the borrowers to recover their loans.

       “By then, the employees would have already resigned from their job and left the country,” said Chong in a statement yesterday.

       Some of the employees were secretly involved in online gambling and some had the intention of cheating the ah long as they knew that they would be departing the country soon, he said.

       “The ah long deserved it because they simply lent out money without any securities.

       “But some ah long told me they got tricked because they were their regular customers and they didn’t expect that these borrowers would abscond,” said Chong.

       He added that this usually involved large amounts of money, up to RM10,000.

       He cited the recent case of a “very prominent Tan Sri” who had a Filipino helper for many years.

       “She suddenly quit to return home last week.

       “After she left, the Tan Sri found a notice pasted at his gate asking to contact a certain mobile number,” Chong said.

       “He suspected something amiss and requested my advice.

       “I called the number given and found that it was an ah long who demanded the money owed by his Filipino maid,” he added.

       However, after Chong explained the case to the moneylender, the latter apologised, saying that he was unaware of the situation, and assured him it would not happen again.

       Chong reminded all employers to be aware of such incidents and keep an eye particularly on those who suddenly wanted to quit.