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| Two theft charges involving Filipinas were heard at the District Court |
To pay off her gambling-addicted husband’s debt from loan sharks, a 42-year-old Filipina permanent resident of Hong Kong admitted in District Court that she stole more than $830,000 in various currencies from a foreign exchange shop in Central in June 2019.
Jonah E. Bayogo, mother of a 13-year-old
boy, pleaded guilty on Thursday, May 18, to a charge of theft before District
Judge Jason Wan in the Tsuen Wan Law Courts.
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Wan sentenced the former domestic helper
to a discounted 20-month jail time for pleading guilty, then deducted a further
three months for her returning to Hong Kong from Manila after fleeing the
offense, and for fully cooperating with the police investigation of the case.
The prosecution charged that at 7:27 pm
on June 28, 2019, the defendant entered the DVFX Money Exchange at Shop A1,
ground floor, Wheelock House, at 22 Pedder St., Central, Hong Kong, after the
shop staff had left.
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Bayogo gained entry into the shop without setting the alarm by using a door key issued to her when she was still employed by the company but which she did not return when she resigned. She then took the keys to two drawers where the shop staff had kept the various currencies amounting to $833,591 before they left for the day.
After opening the drawers, Bayogo stole cash of $104,211 HK currency, 6,845 UAE dirham, AU$6,980, CA$2,550, Swiss francs 2,960, Chinese ¥236,364, €3,060, UK£3,210, Indian rupee 18,130, Japanese ¥1,137,000, Macau patacas 3,080, Malaysian $12, NZ$5,920, PhP105,300, Singapore $21,375, Thai baht49,880, NT$33,700, US$3,977, and Vietnamese dong 45,200,000, all belonging to Globlex Exchange Ltd.
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After putting all the cash in a bag, she
left the shop hurriedly, leaving the door key inside.
The prosecution said the shop’s CCTV had
recorded the whole episode of the crime, from Bayogo’s entry into the shop and her
exit.
After paying off her husband’s debts to
the loan sharks on the same evening of June 2019, Bayogo took $40,000, went to
the airport and bought a plane ticket and left for Manila.
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Peter Pannu, the defense lawyer provided
by Legal Aid, said the defendant exchanged HK$30,000 into pesos in Manila then
settled in the Philippines for more than a year. On May 6, 2021, the defendant
decided to fly back to Hong Kong to face the consequences of her action.
Bayogo was arrested upon her return at
HKIA and sent to 28 Austin Road for quarantine and charged with theft on May
14, 2022. She was formally charged in court on May 18 last year and kept in
remand until her plea today, May 18.
Pannu pleaded for a lenient sentence for
his client, who, he said, originally came to Hong Kong as a domestic worker and
was driven by true love for her husband, a Hong Kong resident construction worker
whom she married and by whom she has a 13-year-old son.
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He admitted that the offense was a
breach of trust, as Bayogo was a former employee of the victim company. He said
the theft was a one-off crime, and the defendant did not turn off the CCTV or
hide her identity behind a mask.
The defendant left for the airport in
panic after settling the husband’s debts and fled to Manila. More than a year
later, she returned to Hong Kong to turn herself in, instead of hiding in her
country.
After a 20-minute break, Judge Wan
returned with the sentence. He said the under the sentencing guidelines set by
the High Court, for theft of $250,000 to $1 million, the sentence starting
point is two to three years in prison.
The judge said that after considering
all the facts of the case and the mitigation presented by the defense, he
decided on a 30-month sentence.
Wan deducted one-third for Bayogo’s
guilty plea and cut a further three months for her having returned to Hong Kong
to answer for her crime.
The defendant had been in remand since
May 6, 2021, which means she has only a few months left to spend in jail.
Also at the District Court, Filipina
domestic helper, Ligaya A. Banisal, 43, is set to make her plea to a theft
charge involving some 40 pieces of jewellery belonging to her former employer
who lives in Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O.
Judge Justin Ko set the plea-taking for August 10 at
the Tsuen Wan Law Courts during a brief hearing in District Court in Wan Chai
on May 18.
In earlier hearings, the prosecution said the jewellery
stolen comprised of 18 gold bangles, 2 gold necklaces, 5 gold bracelets, 2
rings, 4 gold rings and 9 necklaces, all belonging to employer Hui Sau-ling.
They were allegedly stolen between November 2021 and October 2022.
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