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| Owtel's shop in WorldWide Plaza was roped in during last year's raid |
Owtel Limited and two of its managers who were issued with summons for allegedly doing business as a money lender without a license, faced more summonses and criminal charges in a hearing today at Eastern Court.
Prosecutors filed 17 new summonses against Owtel Limited, five new criminal charges against its manager Jace Denzell Picones, 26 years old; and 15 new criminal charges against Razil Rubia, 53, all in addition to one summons each.
Their defense lawyer asked Principal Magistrate David Cheung to hear the cases as one, and adjourn to Feb. 11 next year for legal advice.
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| DETAILS HERE |
Magistrate Cheung granted set bail at $2,500 for the two managers, with conditions such as not contacting the witnesses and not leaving Hong Kong while the case is pending.
The original summons accused Owtel Limited of “carrying on business as a money lender
without a licence” between Sept. 8, 2024 and Nov. 24, 2024 in Hong Kong,,
contrary to Section 29(1)(a) and 32(1)(a) of the Money Lenders Ordinance, which
prescribes a fine at level 6 ($100,000) and imprisonment for two years.
Picones, who was “the manager or similar officer of Owtel
Limited at the time”, was originally accused of conniving
with Owtel Limited to carry on such business between Sept. 8, 2024 and Nov.
18, 2024 in Shop No.119, of World-Wide Plaza in Central.
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Rubia also allegedly connived with Owtel to carry on
business as a money lender without a license in World-Wide Plaza between Sept.
8, 2024 and Nov. 24, 2024.
No details of the new charges were released.
What is known, however, is that they arose from police raids on Nov. 24-25 last
year on Owtel's shops in WorldWide Plaza and seven other locations , in which
46 people were arrested.
A police statement released to The SUN said its anti-illegal
loan operations codenamed “DarkCurrent” involved two phone shops with multiple
branches and a licensed money lender. No names were mentioned, but subsequent
social media posts by affected Filipino domestic workers named the money lender
as RichRen Finance Limited, which has an office in Mong Kok.
“During the operation, officers arrested nine local men, one
local woman, eight foreign men and 28 foreign women aged between 20 and 76,
including the mastermind and core members of the syndicate suspected of loaning
without a licence,” said the statement.
Seized during the raids were more than HK$1million in cash,
loan documents, passports and employment
contracts. Nearly HK$2 million in different accounts were frozen.
The annual interest rate charged by the group was as high as
400 percent, said the statement. Hong Kong laws only allow annual interest
rates of up to 48 percent for loans.
Read previous story here: https://www.sunwebhk.com/2024/11/owtel-shops-raided-for-alleged-illegal.html
