At a press conference here, one victim who wanted to be known only as Deniss told FMT she had been promised a domestic worker on a contract basis.
She gave the agency RM22,000 for a deposit and to cover Covid-19 vaccination fees, with part of the money also to be used to pay the worker’s salary.
However, Deniss said the agency could only provide her with a temporary domestic worker who worked for only one month before running away, claiming she was not paid her salary.
Deniss said the agency was supposed to return RM19,000 but only gave her RM12,000 back, citing “cash flow problems”.
MCA public services and complaints department chief Michael Chong said the other four victims also faced similar issues with the agency, which he claimed was unlicensed.
Chong, who hosted the press conference at his office here, also claimed at least 20 others had fallen victim to the agency.
All five victims at the press conference said they could not follow up with the Shah Alam-based agency which they said had been closed since last month.
When contacted, the agency’s representative said the company was in the process of closing down due to “financial troubles”. He said the company had announced this in a Facebook post on June 30.
He said the agency had been unable to source for more domestic workers from Indonesia after the workers they had originally brought into the country ran away from their Malaysian employers. As a result, he said there had been a loss in confidence in his company, resulting in “poor turnover”.
“Our lawyers are in the process of drafting agreements with our clients, promising them that we will return any money we owe them,” he told FMT.
“We’re not irresponsible and we don’t want to run away.”
Meanwhile, Association of Employment Agencies Malaysia president Foo Yong Hooi warned employers to be wary of agencies promoting maids on social media, saying they may be unlicensed.
“Some people are scammed by unrealistic offers by maid agencies on social media which promise immediate delivery of the workers. Legitimate agencies need up to three months for this,” he said.
Foo also advised the public to verify the agencies’ licences on the labour department’s website before engaging their services.