The scandal surrounding "Dr" Ressie Reyes Macaraeg, the Filipino dentist in London's Harley Street is growing hour by hour as it unfolds.
The good dentist is not what she seems, as a check with the regulatory body for dental professionals in the UK, the General Dental Council (GDC), reveals.
It has also come to light that Macaraeg's family apparently own and control a resort and hotel complex in Pangasinan.
Then there is the revelation of the "feeder" to Macaraeg's recruitment business, care worker Gladys Canal, who has been implicated by many of the victims as being the one who introduced them to the good "dentist of Harley Street".
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Recruiting partnership - left Gladys Canal right Ressie Reyes Macaraeg
Besides several victims coming forward in the UK, it transpires many of them are now in the Philippines, having been removed from Britain by the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) after tip-offs that they [the victims] were now overstayers on their visas. This after the victims had paid Macaraeg £4,000 each to get their visas either changed or renewed.
Macaraeg is in fact a dental nurse, not as she has claimed and declared a dentist as the copy of the registration details with the General Dental Council (GDC) shows:,
Ressie MacAraeg
Ocean Implants and Cosmetics Dentistry
127 Harley Street
LONDON
W1G 6AZ
United Kingdom
Reg. no 112287
Reg. date 15 June 2007
Qualifications: Verified competency in Dental Nursing
Titles: Dental Nurse
Status: Registered
Registrant type: Dental Care Professional
The GDC registers all dental workers in the UK, from dentists to nurses.
In an interview with Balita Pinoy three weeks ago, when specifically asked if she was a dentist or a recruiter she said both. She went onto state that she started her practice at 127 Harley Street in 2006. We hold the recording of the interview.
She has also declared to Northampton County Court that she is a dentist.
It also appears there is a family connection with a hotel resort complex in Pangasinan, the "Treasures of Bolinao Beach Resort".
This photo of Treasures of Bolinao Beach Resort is courtesy of TripAdvisor - most of the reviews of this complex made in Trip Advisor are less than flattering - click the blue link to access
Several informants have stated that this belongs to Ressie Reyes Macaraeg, although others have stated that the family and/or father are actually the beneficial owners.
As this screenshot taken from the Treasures of Bolinao Resort website shows, a new luxury development there was only completed earlier this year.
There is also the involvement of a care worker, Gladys Canal, who has been implicated in many of the victims' stories. She is alleged to have been the main "feeder" to Reyes Macaraeg.
Being seen at social functions where Filipinos congregate, she has befriended many with the explanation she knows someone who can help with their visas, especially those who wish to change from Tier 4 (student status) to Tier 2 (work permit of a shortage occupation).
This has been the main bone of contention in that the applications, when they have been made, seem to have been just before the visas (Tier 4) have been due to expire.
They [the applicants] were promised there would be an employer to take them on. This would be necessary as a vital document to support the application would be needed, a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS). The COS would be issued by a company with a trusted employer, one who is registered with UKBA.
We have found no evidence yet of any applications being made with such a COS. Also, the fact that the applications have been made just before the applicants visas have been due to expire decreases the chances of success, leading to a high number of refusals.
In some cases, applications were made after the visas expired, or not at all. This is after about £4,000 has been paid to Macareag and Canal per applicant.
There are also grave indications that after the applicants have had their applications refused, the UKBA have had anonymous tip-offs leading to raids on the applicants addresses where UKBA personnel have discovered victims with expired visas.
Several of these have since been removed from the UK to the Philippines. Others are now on reporting restrictions while they have their appeals heard.
Mrs Macaraeg told Balita Pinoy in the interview in her premises in Harley St that all documents were with her solicitor, and that all dealings were being handled by him. She did not give us his details although she promised copies of relevant documents would be forwarded to us regarding applications for visas. This never happened.
We did however track down her lawyer and speak to him in a telephone conversation. He stated that for the obvious reasons of client confidentiality and the Data Protection Act, he would be unable to discuss specifics, but could talk in generalities.
He did confirm he had acted for Reyes Macaraeg on an ad hoc basis in the past, although he was not retained by her.
He also added that for him to act for a third party client (an applicant for a Tier 4 to Tier 2 visa change), he would need to physically meet with that client notwithstanding that Macaraeg was the introducer. The only exception to that rule would be if the client was in detention. He stated that he had never handled such an application.
The lawyer we spoke to, who works for a law firm in Grays Inn is actually a barrister, not a solicitor.
None of the victims who have so far come forward have yet stated they ever met a lawyer. Several who have been interviewed by Balita Pinoy have in fact stated that they never met a lawyer.
This is important as giving visa/immigration advice is illegal in the UK unless the person giving the advice is either a registered immigration advisor or a lawyer. Macaraeg is neither of these.
There is also another facet to this case in that under British employment regulations, it is illegal for an agent to charge the applicant for an introduction for a position. The agent must only be paid by the employer.
Also, the forms that Macaraeg signed from Northampton County Court all have a declaration on them, that the information provided is true and correct. Signing that declaration when stating in the form that her employment status was that of a dentist was clearly incorrect.
"Dr" Ressie Reyes Macaraeg with the prestigious dental practise in the heart of London's medical fraternity of Harley Street is a fraud, as is her recruitment company along with her business ethics. The victims, for that is what they are, trusted her specifically because they thought she was a professional person, a dentist.
Not only that, a dentist with a practise in the world famous medical district of London's Harley Street.
It has been said by some that the victims are "stupid", and "uneducated Filipinos" who all deserve to be deported back to the Philippines. They are none of these things. The trust they put in Macaraeg was the one that most normal people would exhibit.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck; it is expected it is a duck.
The title dentist, with a surgery in that area, would make most people assume the person is a dentist.
In the case of Macaraeg, the victims found it was not really a duck, more of a vulture.
[The Original Breaking Story - Filipino Dentist In London's Harley Street Sued Over Work Permits]
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