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| The bulk of the more than $8 million in tainted money was found in Acosta's Mox bank account |
A 40-year-old Filipina who said she was paid $400 to share her HKID card with two mainland Chinese men for a “game” was today sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment after she was found guilty of complicity in an $8.83 million money laundering case.
The sentence imposed at the District Court on Lynie
B. Acosta, a widow with a teenage son in the Philippines, was the longest ever meted
on a foreign domestic worker in Hong Kong for money laundering.
It was made longer by nine months because of the
prosecutors’ request for an enhancement of the sentence as further deterrence,
citing statistics showing a continuing rise in money laundering cases in Hong
Kong.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
A stunned silence followed the pronouncement of the sentence, apparently because of its severity. The defence had urged for leniency in an earlier hearing, saying the sentence should be no more than two years in jail.
Acosta who was already red-eyed at the start of the sentencing, wept as she was led away from the dock. Her lawyer hurriedly gave her instructions on how she must fill up a form so an appeal against her conviction could be launched immediately.
Even before the sentence was read out by District
Judge Edward Wong, the defence counsel said he was lodging an appeal, insisting that Acosta had no involvement at all in the crime she was charged
with.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Outside court, the lawyer said, “She was
only told she was going to join a game, and there was no mention at all of a
bank account being opened.”
But in sentencing, Judge Wong reiterated his reasons
for finding Acosta guilty in an earlier hearing. He said the defendant should have
known that the bank accounts that were opened using her HKID card and “selfies”
she willingly took for 45 minutes were able to take in money from illicit
activities.
“Any reasonable person would find it hard to believe
that she did not know the money (that passed through her accounts) was tainted,”
said the judge.
This is despite acknowledging the defense submission
that there was no international element in the offence, that the defendant had
no control over the three stooge accounts opened in her name, and there was no
evidence that she made any more money apart from the $400 that was deposited
into her Alipay account.
The judge cited a Court of Appeal ruling that a money
laundering case in which at least $8 million was involved should merit no less
than four years in jail. In that case, the sentence of three years and six
months was deemed to be “too low,” he said.
Using 48 months as a starting point, he added a 1/5
enhancement in line with the prosecutors’ request, to come up with a total of
57 months in jail for all three charges.
“There is no mitigating factor involved,” said the
judge in closing.
Acosta
was charged with three counts of dealing with proceeds from crimes along with
three persons, a fellow Filipina named Jane Corpuz and two unidentified Chinese
men who she said had tricked her into passing on her HKID card to them, saying
it was for an online game.
In
the first charge, she and the three unknown individuals are alleged to have
dealt with the biggest chunk of the money, amounting to to $8,597,833.36, which
passed through a Mox Bank account in her
name between March 25 and May 19, 2023.
In
the second charge, Acosta was charged with working with the three in dealing
with tainted money amounting to $192,940.08 in her account with the Standard
Chartered Bank on March 31, 2023.
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 males.
Acosta
pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was put on trial.
In
her defense she said she did not know that her personal details that Jane and
the two men had obtained would be used to open the three bank accounts in her
name. Bank records showed the listed contact person for the accounts was
Chinese, with a Sham Shui Po flat as the mailing address.
During the trial, among those who testified were local people who had deposited money into Acosta's bank accounts for online purchases that were not delivered, including one for a PS5 game console, and another for concert tickets.
For
earlier stories on the case, please click this link: https://www.sunwebhk.com/search?q=lynie+acosta
