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| Place where handbag was picked up (Google Maps photo) |
A domestic helper who picked up a handbag left on a flower bed in Hung Hom by a social media influencer was fined $2,000 today after she pleaded guilty at Kowloon City Court.
Maritess K., 59 years old, admitted taking the black bag
on Oct. 1, 2025, when she found it beside plants outside 17 Lo Lung Hang
Street, Hung Hom, Kowloon the morning after its owner had left it there.
It turned its owner, Chong Suet Yee, had put down the bag to take pictures of a stray cat. She forgot all about it and when she returned the next day, the bag was missing.
After initially appealing on social media for the return of her bag, Chong went to the police to report her loss.
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Maritess was identified in the subsequent review of CCTV
footage.
When she was traced, she returned the bag with all its
contents -- one Hong Kong Identity Card, one Home Return Permit, one HSBC debit
card, two HSBC VISA cards, cash $1,000-HKD, two lipsticks and one hair clip,
total value $1,750-HKD.
These items, along with the clothes
she was wearing during the theft, were presented as evidence in the case of violation
of section 9 of the Theft Ordinance, which provides that “Any person who
commits theft shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction
upon indictment to imprisonment for 10 years.”
Acting Principal Magistrate Peony Wong described the offense
as “theft by finding”. She said the value of the stolen goods were “not
specially high” and they were returned to the owner after three days.
Maritess' lawyer said she arrived in Hong Kong as a domestic
helper in 2011.
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