HK employer admits operating online sex service with Filipina helper

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Palpal-latoc (with black backpack) leaves court after pleading guilty to 4 offences

A Hong Kong employer and her Filipina helper have both pleaded guilty in District Court today, Oct 5, to conspiring to live on the earnings of prostitution for running an online sex booking service out of a luxury Mid-Levels flat.

Filipina helper Jo-an E. Palpal-latoc, 45, also admitted three charges of charges of money laundering by handling a total of $24.7 million in proceeds from the prostitution ring, which went directly to bank accounts controlled by her employer.

Her employer, Heidi Wong Pui-ting, 68, pleaded guilty to only two of the laundering counts, and denied the third one, concerning an undetermined amount of money deposited in her American Express account in Macau.

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The prosecution said in all, $32.2 million was deposited in an account in Fubon Bank and two in HSBC in the name of Firstmount Investments, which Wong controlled as the company's sole shareholder and director.

Judge Amanda Woodcock set the sentencing of the two for the admitted charges on Monday, Oct 12.  Wong will be put on trial later on the third money laundering case that she denied.

Prosecution lawyer Andrew Raffell told the judge it could take time to complete the investigation as American Express was delaying the sharing of documents relating to the credit card payments by customers of the online sex booking services.

The employer and her maid will be sentenced at District Court on Oct 12

The guilty pleas ended nearly two years of court hearings that began in November 2018 after police busted the operation six months earlier.

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Wong, Palpal-latoc, and a second domestic helper, Jeanette Gallego, were arrested when police raided the employer’s flat on Tavistock II, Tregunter Path, on May 15. 

In a police statement, Palpal-latoc said she and Gallego were told by Wong to answer client calls and contact the agents of prostitutes. This began a month after she was hired as a helper in late April 2009.

Gallego pleaded guilty to a charge of living on the earnings of prostitution on Oct 29 last year and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

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Raffel, by way of background, said both Wong and Palpal-latoc had clear records.

He said Wong was born in China and worked as a clerk in an import-export business after coming to Hong Kong in 1969. She married her husband, a Hong Kong businessman, in 1979.

Palpal-latoc on the other hand, went to college in the Philippines and came to Hong Kong in 2009 to work as a helper. She is a single mother of two children who are now adults.

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In mitigation, Charlotte Draycott SC, who appeared for Wong, revealed that her client was once a sex worker herself, and had provided sexual services until her advancing age made it difficult for her to continue.

After her marriage, Wong’s husband reportedly found out about her being a prostitute, and as result refused to sleep with her so they had no children, but the two continued to live together.

Draycott claimed Wong had not run the business for years because she was struggling with depression and the onset or dementia.

The lawyer also argued that Wong had conducted an “honest and decent business” out in the open, and engaged consenting adults while earning $2.5 million a year.

Given this background, Draycott said her client was different from other offenders because “prostitution is a crime without victims, a crime that will carry on because men and women want to do it.”

Mohamed Shah, counsel for Palpal-Latoc, said his client should not have been charged with money laundering because she and Gallego were just following Wong’s orders.

Shah argued that Palpal-latoc, who was earning a measly $4,310 a month, was a victim, as she had been told that prostitution was legal in Hong Kong and it was alright for her to earn money on the side.

“[Wong] was the mastermind and the boss,” Shah said, adding the employer committed a gross breach of trust by getting Palpal-latoc involved in the illicit operation.

He said Wong paid the Filipina helpers only around $1,000 each month on top of their salaries, a very tiny amount compared with the more than $2.5 million a year that the employer earned from the operation.

Shah upset Draycott when he disclosed that Wong had tried to get Palpal-latoc not to plead guilty, using another woman from the Philippines to offer $300,000 to the Filipina to do so.

Draycott protested, saying she had to protect her client. Judge Woodcock backed her up.

Shah said Wong had taken advantage of the helper, who had to bear eight months in custody before being allowed to finally post bail.

Woodcock ordered Wong remanded in custody and extended Palpal-latoc’s bail pending the sentencing.

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Complainants in alleged Php1M investment scam advised to go to police

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Caguioa (with glasses) meets up with a claimant her before going to the Consulate on Sept 20

Hong Kong-based Filipino domestic workers who claim to have lost about Php600,000 in a “double your money” scam are considering taking their complaint to the police after the woman behind the ploy appeared to have reneged on a repayment promise.

The two sides were supposed to meet for a second time at the Consulate on Sunday, Oct 4, to work out a deal before assistance to nationals chief Consul Paul Saret, but neither side showed up.

The Filipina who admitted to taking their money, Ailyn Caguioa, sent word that she couldn’t make it to the meeting. The main complainant, MC, had to go to a doctor after being severely bitten by her employer’s cat, while the 21 other claimants all said they weren’t free that day.

Consul Saret says Caguioa must refund the money of her victims as soon as possible

Consul Saret said he had called the victims as early as the previous Sunday, and they said they were discussing with Caguioa about the amounts that she owed each of them.

“They said they would come yesterday but they didn’t,” he said, adding he was concerned because Caguioa hardly showed remorse even after admitting to telling lies to entice the claimants to put their money in her supposed investment scheme.

Caguioa had insisted that she did not benefit from the huge sums that went into her get-rich-quick scheme in just over a month, which she said was all used paying those who managed to cash in quickly on their supposed investments. 

In their first encounter before Consul Saret on Sept 20, Caguioa said she was willing to repay all the money that she took, but on installment, as she could only promise her own salary as a domestic helper to pay them back.

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The diminutive Caguioa did not reject claims several other Filipinos, including those in the Philippines and migrant workers in other countries, had also put in money in her “Invest, Wait Earn” scheme so that the total claim against her could top Php1million.

On being told this, Consul Saret said it did not seem fair that Caguioa could only promise to repay everyone using only her salary as it could take her years to do so. There was also the possibility that she would just stop paying them altogether after the issue had cooled down.

Saret suggested Caguioa look for other sources of funds so she could repay a big chunk of what she owed in one go, and then appeal to them to allow her to pay the balance in monthly installments as she suggested.

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The ATN head said that if Caguioa couldn’t give back the money of the complainants, the Consulate would be powerless to stop them taking the case to the police as there appeared to be a clear element of fraud in the case.

The complainants said in their written statements that they were enticed to part with their money after Caguioa promised to double, or even triple, their money in just a week or 10 days.

They said Caguioa, though soft-spoken in person, was very convincing in her approach, even sending them copies of her Hong Kong ID and passport as proof she was not out to con them.

   

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M.C. said Caguioa even promised to help them all get rich like her, as she claimed to have made a lot of money from an online investment, as well as various businesses in the Philippines, including a water refilling station, an air ticketing, and remittance companies.

At the Consulate meeting, Caguioa admitted all these were a lie she concocted at the instruction of an OFW in UAE who also allegedly told her to set up the investment scam.

The Facebook page created for Caguioa's investors is run by Maricel

She said the OFW called Maricel reportedly assured her that she could make money immediately from using “walwal”, or the act of spreading word about the supposed investment to lure as many people as possible to get into the web of deceit.

Maricel also reportedly advised Caguioa to adopt a “pay-in, pay-out” approach to lure more people in fast.

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What she did not realize, said Caguioa, was that Maricel would use all the money she supposedly received as investment to pay back her supposed investors within a week, so that in less than a month, the pyramid-like structure collapsed.

Caguioa said she ended up owing a lot of people money she never received. Worse, Maricel is now claiming more than Php230,000 from her.

Caguioa said she wanted to clear her name as she had been disowned by her family who were all exposed on social media from the bashings made by her investors, and she needed to work in peace so she could pay them all back.

But she still insisted the scheme had gone bust because her investors did not wait for the right time to claim their earnings.

Saret told the group the Consulate could only help those who are in Hong Kong, as it does not have the power to represent those who are outside its jurisdiction. He suggested those in other countries who are also chasing Caguioa for their money should consult the Philippine embassy or consulate nearest them, or file a case in the Philippines.

But as her creditors, especially those in Hong Kong, had readily entrusted their money to her in full, she should repay them in the same manner.

To help ease the repayment, all the Hong Kong claimants who each lost between a few thousand pesos to more than Php100,000 in the scam, agreed to just ask for just the actual money they had put in, and not include the stupendous interest promised them by Caguioa.

They also agreed to let Caguioa pay part of the money by installment, but only after she had paid them the bulk of what they lost.

The two sides were advised to talk among themselves first, then go back to the Consulate once they agree on a repayment schedule.

But as it turned out, Caguioa was not that all anxious to make amends with her victims. Her latest offer was to pay them using only half her salary each month, a process that, even if she remained true to her word, would take all of six years.

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22 Pinoys, including pub operator, held over sale of unlicensed liquor

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Of the 22 Filipinos arrested, 20 were women

A police spokeswoman told The SUN that the raid took place around 7pm on Oct 3.  Of the 22 Filipinos arrested, 20 were women. The 18 others were of various nationalities, the officer said.

The operator was reportedly held for selling unlicensed liquor, while the rest were booked for drinking the unlicensed alcohol.

Up until noon today, all those arrested were still in police custody as an investigation was ongoing.

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But as of 6:15pm, the police said all the 40 arrested persons, including the operator, had been released on police bail.

No charges have yet been filed, the spokeswoman said.

A video clip shared in a group chat on messenger showed police officers making the arrested persons line up on one side of the alley.

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“Hands on the shoulder, hands on the shoulder,” an officer was heard instructing them.

A check with shop owners in the building identified the raided pub as one belonging to a Filipino who runs several karaoke bars in the alleys. One said it was an open secret that several establishments in the area sell liquor illegally.

Under Regulation 25A of the Dutiable Commodities (Liquor) Regulations, businesses cannot sell liquor for consumption in their premises if they are not licensed to do so.

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Regulation 32 of the same law prohibits any person from drinking liquor in the unlicensed premises.

Anyone drinking liquor in an unlicensed establishment can be arrested and fined

The manager of the unlicensed premises may be prosecuted for violating the licensing requirement for liquor sale, and if convicted, faces a maximum fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

Those caught drinking the unlicensed liquor may be fined up to $2,000 on a summary conviction.

The raid came just hours after police and officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) conducted joint inspections of 40 catering premises, including dai pai dongs, in Sai Kung and Sham Shui Po.

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Following the inspections, officers initiated prosecution against seven business operators for violating social distancing regulations.

These anti-epidemic measures include: the number of customers at any premises must not exceed half of its normal seating capacity, no more than four persons may be seated together at one table at catering premises; a mask must be worn at all times within the premises, except when the person is consuming food or drink; and body temperature screening must be conducted before the person is allowed to enter the catering premises and hand sanitizers must be provided.

Licensees and operators found to have contravened the regulations face a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months.

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4 new Covid-19 includes another newly arrived Filipina DH

By The SUN 

Experts say distancing measures should remain because of the silent transmissions

Four new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections were reported in Hong Kong today, Oct. 3, bringing the city’s total tally to 5,108, with 105 related deaths.

Three are imported cases, including a 27-year-old Filipina domestic helper who just flew in from Manila; a 34-year-old man who arrived from India, and a 30-year-old man who came from the UK.

The only local case is a 22-year-old student at the Institute of Vocational Education in Tseung Kwan O, whose source of infection is unknown.

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This prompted health authorities to close the school for two weeks, and its more than 2,000 students and staff asked to submit themselves to Covid-19 tests.

The student lives in Sha Tin, and last visited the campus on September 29, which was also when he started developing symptoms.

But he also went to a bar called China Secret located in Lee Chau Commercial Building on Hart Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui with friends on September 23, during the incubation period.

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Dr Chuang Shuk Kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection's communicable disease branch, said staff at the bar will also be tested as officials were worried that it was the source of infection.

"So far, we have not identified any confirmed case among this activity and also the friends, but we are still investigating," she said.

Since there has been a number of cases with unknown source the past few days, Chuang said the public should avoid engaging in social activities.

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The precaution should also include holding off on reopening the borders as this could lead to more transmissions.

There is fear the number of cases may rise after the long holiday weekend

Her view reflected that of another expert on infectious diseases, Chinese University professor David Hui.

Hui, who also advises the government on pandemic control, said the current social distancing restrictions should remain in place for now because of the number of untraceable cases that have been almost daily the past week.

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He is particularly worried about an increase in the number of infections after the long holiday weekend, given the pandemic fatigue that has set in after months of social distancing restrictions.

"During the holiday, a lot of people actually have gone out celebrating and also joining a lot of social activities. So we have to [see] whether there's any related outbreak, for example in restaurants and other facilities,” said Hui.

The government has eased some restrictions in the past week, including allowing places of worship and business establishments like bars to reopen.

However, public gatherings are still limited to four people and everyone is required to wear masks in public, except when doing strenuous activities.

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Catholic Church resumes public masses

By The SUN 

As in recent past, only half of the seats in churches will be filled 

Sunday public masses in all Catholic churches will resume this coming Sunday, Oct. 4, after the government implemented further relaxation of social distancing measures. However, weekday masses started from yesterday, Oct 2.

However, only 50% of the normal capacity of the church will be filled. Other restrictions aimed at promoting public health and safety will also be put in place.

The Church’s move is likely to be replicated by other religious groups in the city, which has been gradually easing restrictions after the daily number of infections fell to a low two digits.

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According to an advisory issued in the name of the Chancellor, Rev. Lawrence Lee on Sept 30, the following measures will be enforced:

1)      Churches should be well ventilated and seats cleansed and disinfected regularly, with a disinfected carpet at the church entrance.

2)      The congregation should be limited to 50% of the normal capacity of the church.

3)      When entering the church compound, the faithful should put on a face mask, take body temperature and cleanse their hands with sanitizer. The use of holy water at the church entrance should be suspended.

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4)      Ushers should see to it that those inside the church keep adequate social-distancing.

5)      The use of liturgical booklets and hymnals should be suspended (projectors may be used instead).

6)      Sunday collections should be taken up after mass, with one or several donation boxes provided.

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7)      The sign of peace should be expressed by bowing heads, instead of shaking hands.

8)      For the time being, Holy Communion should be received only “in the hand”.  One’s hands should be sanitized before and after receiving Communion.

9)      Once the mass is concluded, the faithful should leave the church compound and avoid socializing.

10)  After mass, the seats in the church should be cleansed and disinfected.

Those attending mass should disinfect their hands before taking the holy communion

Parish priests are enjoined to observe a separate set of guidelines.

The advisory said attending Sunday mass is an obligation of the faithful. But while the pandemic is not yet completely contained, Cardinal John Tong, as a discretionary measure, permits the following alternatives to attending the Sunday Mass —

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a. Those who have worries that they might get infected by the pandemic if they come to church to attend the Sunday mass, may attend it online (and receive spiritual Communion) or perform some acts of devotion, such as reading the Bible, etc.

b. Since seating in churches is being restricted at present, one can attend mass on a weekday, instead of Sunday.

The above discretionary measure will be terminated once the pandemic is fully contained and the local situation is back to normal.  

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