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| The reasons for the verdict were read out in District Court today |
A 38-year-old Filipina was today found guilty at the District Court of laundering a total of $8.83 million in her three bank accounts, the biggest amount ever linked to a foreign domestic worker in Hong Kong.
Lynie Acosta, a widow who has been working as a
domestic helper in Hong Kong since 2017, was returned to jail pending a
background report, and will be sentenced on January 12 next year.
She was convicted despite her claim that she had
been tricked into opening three bank accounts by three persons she did not
know, who told her they were registering her for a “game,” for which she was
paid $400.
In court today, District Court Judge Edward Wong
said the prosecution had proved all charges against Acosta beyond reasonable
doubt.
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| DETAILS HERE |
He dismissed the defense’s plea for Acosta to be
allowed bail pending the sentencing, saying the offences she committed were
serious.
The defence lawyer had tried to argue that there was
no harm in setting Acosta free before the sentencing, as she was staying in the
shelter run by the Philippine Consulate, which could guarantee her return, but
the judge was not convinced.
The defense was directed to submit a written
background and mitigation for Acosta by December 21, as well as sentencing guidelines
for similar offences in which the amount involved is as huge as in the present
case.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Acosta was charged with three counts of money
laundering, with the first involving the biggest chunk of the money, amounting
to to $8,597,833.36, passing
through her Mox Bank account between March 25 and May 19, 2023.
The prosecution alleged that she dealt with the
property with the help of two persons, one named Jane Corpuz and another
unknown.
The same persons were also cited as helping Acosta
in dealing with $192,940.08 in her account with the Standard Chartered Bank on
March 31, 2023, which formed the basis for the second charge.
The third charge was over the $45,100.78 deposited in her account with the Hong Kong
and Shanghai Bank, which she again allegedly dealt with, along with Corpuz and
the unknown person.
In her defence, Acosta said Jane who was introduced
by her sister, had met up with her in Tseung Kwan O and asked if she was
interested in instant cash by playing a game.
Jane and two Chinese men then asked for her HKID
card which they scanned, before helping her take “selfies” from different angles,
and uploaded these online. She was then paid $400 through her Alipay account.
Without her realizing it, Acosta said her personal
details were used to open the three bank accounts in her name, and listing down
a Sham Shui Po flat as her residential address.
Her lawyer argued that Acosta did not know that the
bank accounts were opened in her name, nor was she aware that the same accounts
were used to funnel money obtained from scams, in particular from fraudulent online selling.
The defense also tried to shift the blame on banks’
lax security, pointing out that they should have been alerted by the large
amounts of money that were passing through accounts held by a foreign domestic
worker.
But the judge did not accept the arguments, saying
Acosta could not have possibly believed she was merely being asked to play a
game when she was asked for her HKID card and submit to a lengthy photo capture
or scanning.
Besides, there was no evidence at all of any gaming
account being opened in Acosta’s name during that incident.
Despite being
a domestic worker, Acosta is already 38 years old and received tertiary
education in the Philippines so she could not have been as naïve as pictured,
said the judge.
He also pointed out that Acosta had an Alipay
account in Hong Kong and a bank account in the Philippines so she was not totally
clueless about bank procedures.
To top it all, it was unbelievable that she had allowed
three people she only met for the first time to get hold of her HKID card and spend
some time taking her photo from different angles, all because of a game.
Acosta received support from her employer during the
initial hearings of the case, and even offered to post bail for her, as she was
having difficulty taking care of her son and sick mother while keeping her own
job.
The defense lawyer had also appealed to the court to
allow bail, saying Acosta’s husband died recently, and she was desperate to
continue working to pay off the hospital and burial bills, as well as support
her child who was left in her mother-in-law’s care.
But after the case was transferred to the District
Court, then presiding judge, Wong Kwai Kin warned that Acosta could face a more
severe sentence if found guilty, as the Department of Justice had sought to get
higher sentences imposed in money laundering cases.
