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| First purchase was made in this store (Google Maps photo) |
An unemployed Filipino was jailed for six months for stealing a credit card and then using it five times to buy inexpensive items, spending a total of $673, after he was convicted of six counts of theft today at Eastern Court.
J. Padua, 58 years old and a Hong Kong resident, had earlier pleaded guilty on all counts and thus received a one-third discount on the nine-month starting point set by Principal Magistrate David Cheung for each of the six offenses, which he ordered to run at the same time.
Magistrate Cheung also ordered Padua, who had four previous convictions, to pay a compensation of $673.00 by Feb. 16 to the credit card’s owner, Lai Kwan-chor.
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The first case of Cheung violating section 9 of the Theft Ordinance, arose after Padua found Lai’s lost credit card on Nov. 30, 2024 and kept it.
On the same day, he used the credit card to:
- buy merchandise valued at $95 at a 7-Eleven store in Bo Fung Gardens, King's Road, Quarry Bay.
- buy merchandise worth $10.50 at a 7-Eleven store at Fok Cheong Building on King's Road, Quarry Bay.
- buy merchandise worth $10.00 at a 7-Eleven store on Bo Fung Gardens.
- buy merchandise worth $98.00 at a 7-Eleven store on Hoi Kwong Court, Hoi Kwong St., Quarry Bay.
- buy items worth $459 at Free Running Shop at Provident Centre on Wharf Road, North Point.
In the same hearing, Magistrate Cheung imposed a $300 fine on L. Mendoza, 43 years old and former domestic helper, after she rejected his offer of free duty lawyer services and admitted shoplfting two boxes of coffee worth $59.80 from the AEON Supermarket, G/F, Kornhill Plaza (South) in Quarry Bay.
Cheung had earlier asked Mendoza why she was unrepresented when he advised her in the previous hearing to go to the Duty Lawyer Service. He offered to adjourn the case so she can get legal advice.
“You are facing a criminal charge. If you are found guilty you will have a criminal record,” he added.
“I want to finish the case today,” said Mendoza, who was fired by her employer after she was arrested.
“Taking into account your circumstance, I will impose a small fine of $300,” he said. “You still have $200 from your $500 bail.”
Mendoza tearfully thanked him.
