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| The case is being heard in Kwun Tong court |
A Filipina domestic helper is facing trial in Kwun Tong Court
The two-day trial of Evangelina G. Solano was originally set
to begin today, May 4, but Magistrate Joseph To adjourned the case until Jun 2
as a key prosecution witness was still out of town and the transcript of the
police interview with Solano was not ready.
Solano, who is out on bail and still lives with her
employer, was ordered to return to court that day.
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The Filipina was arrested Jan 1, 2016 at Hong Kong International
Airport
After the procedural discussions, Solano’s counsel presented
in court the defense witness, Ip Yue-ming, the elderly employer of Solano since
2006. The defense said Solano was hired to care for Ip and his wife, also an
elderly.
To asked Ip, a retired high school teacher, if Solano was
honest and responsible and he said yes. When asked if she understood the charge
against his maid, Ip again said yes.
But he replied “It’s hard to state” when asked whether he
thought the maid had broken the law.
Afterwards, the prosecution played back a video recorded
interview of Solano, which the defense said it would challenge as it was taken
in the absence of a lawyer for the maid.
But in the video recording, Solano was asked by an
investigator from the Airport Police Division if she agreed to be interviewed
without a lawyer and the defendant answered yes.
When the female officer told her she was investigating her
in relation to a case of obtaining property by deception that took place
between Dec 14, 2014 and Jan 2, 2015, the defendant blurted out, “No! Hindi ko
nagawa iyan.”
Solano replied each time the officer asked her about the
case, prompting the investigator to tell her not to say anything unless she was
told to reply. She was also cautioned that anything she said could be used as
evidence against her.
The defendant was asked if she had a Hang Seng Bank account and
she said yes, adding that it was an ATM account without a passbook being
issued. She said she opened it in mid-2015.
She admitted lending it to a Filipina friend named Nora
whose surname she could not remember. Nore reportedly borrowed her ATM account
to receive a $10,000 cash transfer her American boyfriend who was in Malaysia
Afterwards, Nora reportedly needed money to pay for
something, so, being her friend, Solano agreed to lend her ATM card and
personal identification number.
Solano said she did not know that Nora used her account to
receive $40,000 and $42,900 successively from her boyfriend on Dec 22, 2014.
She only saw the amounts when Nora asked her to go with her
to the Kowloon City
Solano said Nora went home for good in September 2015 and
the last time she heard from her was through a New Year greeting online.
When asked why there was a $20,000 deposited in her account
apart from the amounts sent to Nora, Solano said it was money that she had
saved from her salary. She said that account had been closed by Hang Seng since
then.
The case continues.
