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| The accused was arrested when she went to Immigration to renew her employment contract |
A Filipina domestic helper was denied bail when she appeared in Eastern Court yesterday, Monday, charged with fraud after allegedly securing a $20,000 loan by submitting an expired employment contract.
Mariel E.
Antenor, 32 years old, faces one charge of obtaining pecuniary (monetary)
advantage by deception.
Her lawyer said
Antenor was offering a $100 bail for her temporary release apart from
surrendering her passport and reporting regularly to the police, but the
prosecution opposed the motion, and was upheld by Principal Magistrate Ivy
Chui.
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| TAWAG NA! |
However, the
magistrate set another hearing on May 28 to review the bail application, and adjourned
the case to June 17.
According to the
charge, Antenor obtained a $20,000 loan from Prime Credit on Sept. 14, 2022, using
her invalid work contract to support her loan application which she submitted
to the finance company’s office in Eurotrade Centre in Central.
The alleged act
is contrary to sec 18 of the Theft Ordinance, and is punishable by up to 10
years in jail.
In court, the
prosecution said that the defendant was arrested when she went to Immigration
Ordinance to renew her employment contract which expired on Apr 27 this year.
That meant that she was already working with another employer when she obtained
the loan using her old contract.
According to the
defence lawyer, Antenor said she did not know that it was an offence to use an
expired employment contract to support a loan application. She also said she had
already repaid the loan in full.
In turn, the
prosecution said Antenor had claimed she had been signed up by a new employer,
but failed to produce a copy of her new contract.
Magistrate Chui ordered the prosecution to ascertain Antenor’s immigration status and report on their findings at the next hearing.
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