 |
| Nones was initially charged with stealing 2 gold Piaget watches like this one, worth $200,000 |
The Filipina defendant in the biggest theft case involving a
foreign domestic worker in Hong Kong appeared
in court again today, Jan. 24, to face additional charges.
Carmelita Nones, 45, who is charged with stealing at least $1
million worth of jewelry from her businessman-employer and his family, appeared
briefly in Eastern Court where the charges against her were listed down as
theft and nine other unspecified charges.
No information about the new charges was disclosed in court, but
the prosecution asked for further adjournment to finalize its case, after receiving
preliminary advice from the Department of Justice.
The prosecution also said it was making inquiries with the
Immigration Department about two Filipina co-workers of Nones, and was putting together
a breakdown of all the properties that had allegedly been stolen.
Principal magistrate Bina Chainrai ordered the case adjourned to
Mar 20 “for the finalization of inquiries and legal advice” by the prosecution.
She also ordered Nones returned to custody after being told the defendant had
no bail application.
In the previous hearing of her case on Nov. 29, Nones tried to
plead guilty to stealing various jewelry items from business executive David
Liang and his wife worth an estimated $1 million. However, a private lawyer for
her employers divulged that more theft charges could be filed against her.
The lawyer said additional pawnshop receipts were found among
her belongings, indicating she had stolen far more than what she was previously
charged with.
Magistrate Lam Tsz-kan set aside Nones’ guilty plea, and said he
would rather wait until the additional charges were ready.
The Filipina was arrested on Sept 4 in the residence of Liang,’s
luxury flat at 70 Deepwater Bay
Road in
She was initially charged with stealing two gold Piaget watches worth a total of $200,000 between
Jul 27 and Aug 11 this year.
But afterwards, investigators found five more
stolen jewelry pieces in the pawnshop where Nones had allegedly pawned the watches. In
addition, four pieces of stolen jewelry were reportedly found in her handbag.
Nones has been held without bail since her arrest.
