The German operator of Gibraltar-flagged container vessel 'Philipp' has been accused operating a double book-keeping system to cheat the Filipino crew out of their rightful wages.
The alleged scam was discovered during a routine inspection of the vessel by Tommy Molloy of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) in Liverpool, UK. Molloy reportedly uncovered two sets of accounts – fake accounts showing what the crew should be getting paid, and real accounts showing they were actually paid approximately one-third of what they should. Molloy claimed that the amount of wages the crew had been cheated of was over US$230,000.
Confronted with the evidence, the vessel's operator Vega Friedrich Dauber and its subsidiary Vega Manila Crewmanagement reportedly admitted to the discrepancy and agreed to make payment on October 4. However, the ITF alleges that crew members were subsequently intimidated into handing their money back once Molloy had left the vessel. The inspector later returned to the vessel accompanied by the Port Police.
"When we arrived back on board it became immediately apparent that the company had taken back the wages they had so recently paid out," said Molloy. "The company did not deny they had the wages back but insisted the crew had returned the money voluntarily. When questioned all but two of the fifteen crew, some barely able to speak and all with heads bowed, staring at the floor, stated they had voluntarily returned their wages as they did not want them! The same crew had been delighted to receive their wages only hours earlier."
