Overseas Filipino Workers from around the world work really hard to earn money. Most of them send a big portion of their salaries back to their families in the Philippines for their children’s education, medical needs, and daily expenses.
A lot of these OFWs send money to Philippines through remittance centers. But how safe and secure are these remittance centers?
While most (if not all) money transfer business or remittance centers claim that they have the safest and most secure way of sending money to the Philippines or anywhere in the world, there are still a few of them who fail to deliver good results as promised.
One of which was SR Cash Remit, a money transfer business located in Marlborough Mall in Calgary (a city in the province of Alberta, Canada), which is currently under investigation after over 70 people claimed that their money disappeared and were never sent successfully to their recipients.
SR Cash Remit closed unexpectedly because of “financial issues” which left Calgarians out hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
Sadly, most of them are Filipinos, who work overseas and send their hard-earned money to their loved ones in the Philippines.
Some of these Filipinos reported that they had used SR Cash Remit to send money to Philippines for at least a year and had done more than 20 transfers without any issues before. The money transfer process usually just takes a few hours, except recently when they were told that it would take up to three days to transfer. (Source)
Police estimated the loss to be more than $100,000 and according to one of the investigators, the amounts range from about $200 up to $15,000, which is a lot of money, especially knowing that the victims are hardworking people.
The investigator also said that it’s unlikely that the victims will recoup any of their losses even if it goes through civil remedy. (Source)
More charges are likely pending and there is a possibility that the owner and director of SR Cash Remit, who is Marisyel Pilande, has gone to the Philippines.
I have relatives and friends abroad who work really hard to send money to their loved ones and bring a lot of “pasalubong” when they come home for vacation.
This news saddens me because I know how much they worked hard to earn that money. The money that was supposedly for their family’s Christmas celebration in the Philippines, but that never made it because of this issue.
I just hope that this case would be solved as soon as possible and I also hope that this is the last time it happens.
For the victims, I know it’s hard to accept that your hard-earned money disappeared just like that, but let’s just hope and pray that more blessings will be given back to you.
Just go for the safe and trusted remittance center the next time you send your money to the Philippines. It’s okay to pay a little more for remittance fees so long as your remittance will be sent successfully to your loved ones.
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