By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Police stand behind the evidence gathered from an earlier money laundering scam (File) |
Three
Filipina domestic workers who admitted handing over their ATM cards to people
who used them to launder money from illegal acts are not victims, an Eastern
Court magistrate said yesterday, Jul 21, while listening to mitigation pleas
from their lawyers.
Magistrate
Edward Wong sternly rebuked one of the lawyers by saying that the defendants who
admitted being paid between $1,000 and $3,000 in exchange for handing over
their ATM cards were not the victims that he tried to make them appear.
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“I do not
accept that they are victims, they just did not realize the gravity of their
offence,” said Magistrate Wong. “If they were truly victims they would not have
received any reward for their illegal act.”
“Do not
overstate your mitigation.”
Magistrate
Wong ordered the three Filipinas detained immediately pending their sentencing
on Jul 29.
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Fatima
Sumcio, 47, Judyline Astronomo, 46, and Ayishah Barton, 40, each admitted a
count of dealing with property known or believed to be proceeds of a crime.
Their HSBC accounts were used to launder stolen money amounting to between
$247,000 and more than $1,000,000.
They were
charged alongside Hazel V. Gepulgani, 33, who pleaded not guilty to the same
charge; and Marissa C. Mesa, 46, who asked for more time to study the case
against her. Both will appear in court again on Sept 1.
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Gepulgani’s
bail of $1,600 and Mesa’s of $2,000 were extended until their next court
appearance.
The
prosecution alleged that all five defendants allowed their HSBC ATMs to be used in
laundering more than $2,400,000 obtained by unidentified individuals through a
so-called love scam.
The victim in the case was said to be a local woman who was duped into sending money to a man
who introduced himself to her as a pilot based in the United States. After
wooing her, the scammer told her he was sending a parcel from the US for which
she had to pay import duties.
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In
Gepulgani’s case, the amount allegedly transferred to her HSBC account between
Jun 13 -18 2020 was $281,400. Mesa’s HSBC account was said to have been used to
launder a total amount of $1,075,781 between Apr 21, 2020 and May 25, 2020.
Sumcio’s account
was used to launder $1,141,700 between Apr 17 and May 30, 2020; Astronomo’s a
total of $569,600 between May 6 to 12, 2020, while Barton’s, a total of $247,100
between Jun 24 and Jul 2, 2020.
All the
said accounts were almost emptied as soon as the illicit transfers were made.
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In
mitigation, Sumcio’s lawyer said she had been working a foreign domestic helper
in Hong Kong for the past 16 years, earning the minimum wage of $4,630. She is
married and has a son aged 22 and a daughter aged 18.
Astronomo,
on the other hand, has been separated from her husband and provides solely for
her 22 year-old son and a 72-year-old mother with hypertension. She has worked
in Hong Kong for three years.
Barton’s
lawyer said she is a single mother of three young boys aged between 8 and 15,
and earns about $5,000 a month as a domestic worker. She was remorseful and had
promised not to re-offend.
In a bid
to get their respective sentences reduced, the employers of the three accused all
showed up in court to show support. Barton’s even sent a letter to the
magistrate to help her get a lower sentence.
But their
appeals for leniency did not seem to have an immediate effect. Magistrate Wong
immediately canceled their bail and ordered them remanded in jail until their
next court appearance, leaving the three visibly shaken and in tears.
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