DH jailed for shop theft will miss flight home tomorrow

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The accused went in and out of a Watson's store stealing goods before she was caught

A Filipina domestic helper who should be flying home tomorrow, Mar 10, won’t be able to do so just yet, as she has to stay in jail for six weeks as penalty for stealing $3,500 worth of goods in a Watson’s shop in Central.

N.B. Cauilan, 34, was ordered jailed today by Eastern Court Magistrate Peter Law after she pleaded guilty to a charge of shop theft.

Pindutin para sa detalye

 

The magistrate ignored an appeal by the defense lawyer to fine the defendant instead so she won’t miss her flight home. Law said the value of the goods that the defendant had stolen on Mar 7 was considerable, hence the prison sentence.

Call now!

The prosecution said Karen Wan, shop manager of the Watson’s store on the ground floor of Fung House on Connaught Road Central, was making a stock check after 5:30pm last Sunday when she noticed that some goods were missing from the shelves. 

CLICK FOR DETAILS

Wan reviewed the CCTV footage and saw Cauilan had entered the shop three times between 5:09pm and 5:30pm, took the stolen property from the shelves and put them in her bag, then left without paying.

At 5:38pm, the shop manager saw the defendant again, intercepted her and reported the case. Police arrested the Filipina and recovered the stolen goods from a suitcase placed outside the shop.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The recovered items were 5 packs of facial cream, 6 packs of shower gel, 5 bottles of deodorant, 3 packs of tissue paper, 1 pack of food supplement, 3 packs of rubber nipples, 2 packs of feeding bottles and 5 packs of body lotion. They had a total value of $3,506.10.   

CALL US!

The prosecution said that during investigation, the woman admitted she took the goods out of greed. At the time, she had $3,341 in her wallet. Police searched the flat where she was staying but found nothing.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

 

In mitigation, the duty lawyer assigned to Cauilan asked for just a fine for his client, saying the Filipina was set to fly home tomorrow, and may not be able to return to Hong Kong because of her criminal record.

But Magistrate Law was not dissuaded, and just gave the usual discount for her guilty plea. 

BASAHIN ANG DETALYE

PADALA NA!

CALL US!

Stalking victim finds new employer, gets support from Consulate

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Consul Saret is endorsing the case to police for action

A Filipina domestic helper who was fired on the spot by her employer last Wednesday after her Indian stalker harassed and assaulted her in public at a kindergarten in Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O, has found a new employer.

The woman had two employers waiting to talk to her on the phone when she went to an employment agency last Saturday. The agency had heard about her case and was willing to help. Before noon, the helper had already signed a work contract with one of the employers.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Her remaining concern is the Hong Kong police’s refusal to act on her complaint against her former  boyfriend who has been stalking, harassing and blackmailing her and smearing her family and 14-year-old daughter on Facebook.

On Monday afternoon, the 30-year-old Filipina met with Consul Paulo Saret, head of the assistance to nationals section of the Consulate, who expressed surprise that the police saw no merit in her complaint, and ignored the bruise she sustained on her left arm when the man had grabbed her. 

Call now!

Consul Saret listened to the woman’s narration then let her write a letter stating her complaint on an ATN form. He said he would write a note to the police VIP liaison endorsing the victim’s letter complaint for police action.

The helper told Saret the stalker had been harassing her and verbally abusing her since she stopped giving him money and refused to take out a $60,000 bank loan for him. She said she given money regularly to the man for over a year out of fear.

CLICK FOR DETAILS

When she broke off all communications with him last week on the advice of groups she consulted out of desperation, he warned her she could not escape from him and threatened to ruin her and her family, the Filipina said.

The Filipina was terminated on the spot after her stalker created a scene at her ward's school

Social Welfare Attaché Lucita Villanueva also met with the woman and advised her on how to handle the situation, to focus on her job and her children and shut out her tormentor.

Meanwhile, the 39-year-old recognizance holder, a status that prevents him from deportation pending resolution of his torture claim, seems to have been emboldened by the police inaction.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Over the weekend, he created clone Facebook accounts of the helper, her former live-in partner and their teenaged daughter and posted their pictures on the faked pages with malicious captions.

On the helper’s bogus account, the man depicts the mother as offering her daughter for sex to any interested man. He made similar suggestions on the fake account of the daughter. 

CALL US!

On Saturday, the stalker created another FB account in the name of the victim’s ex-partner and posted his photo with the child with a caption in which the father was purportedly saying he was having great sex with his daughter.

Officers at the complaints desks of the Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai police stations, who were shown the fake FB accounts, told the woman they could not do anything because the man’s nasty and lurid posts did not measure up to a cyber crime.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

The officers only repeated the advice given her by well-meaning groups not to talk to him again, change her phone number, block the man from her phone and from the FB account, tell her relatives to do the same, and to report the matter to Facebook.

Early on, police in Tseung Kwan O who responded to the commotion caused by man at the kindergarten school dismissed the incident as a “financial dispute” after listening to the harasser and the woman’s male employer.

The stalker had apparently told the police that it was the Filipina who owed her a lot of money, that was why he was after her.

BASAHIN ANG DETALYE

PADALA NA!

CALL US!

9 new Covid-19 cases reported as vaccination opened to more people

By The SUN 

Market vendors are among the 1.3 million people who will get vaccinated next

Hong Kong health officials reported nine new coronavirus cases on Monday, Mar 8, six of them locally acquired.

Three were imported, including a 36-year-old Filipina domestic helper who tested positive at the airport. She was asymptomatic.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Two others were returnees, a 1-year-old baby boy from Pakistan, and a 46-year-old man from United Arab Emirates. They were both found infected while in hotel quarantine.

Among the local cases, four were of unknown sources, including a 36-year-old security guard in Yuen Long, a 48-year-old waitress from Sham Shui Po, a 41-year-old housewife from Tsim Sha Tsui, and a 35-year-old project coordination in Fanling.

Call now!

All of them developed symptoms, such as fever, chills, blocked nose or cough.

They brought Hong Kong’s total tally to 11,099.

Nip says there's more than enough jabs for everyone

Meanwhile, about 1.3 million more people from various sectors will be able to book for their Covid-19 vaccines starting Tuesday, after being given priority status by the government.

CALL US!

Secretary for Civil Service Patrick Nip, who is in charge of the vaccination program, said the new priority group includes teachers, public transport drivers, restaurant staff, couriers, construction workers and people working in gyms, beauty parlors and wet markets.

First priority was given to elderly residents aged 60 and above, as well as healthcare workers.

PRESS FOR MORE DETAILS

Nip said the government decided to expand the priority list because there are enough vaccines and these workers are also at high risk of contracting Covid-19.

Yesterday, the second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived, bringing to one million the number of doses of already supplied to Hong Kong by the German pharmaceutical company.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

Another million doses of the Sinovac vaccine procured by the Hong Kong government has already been made available for the free inoculation program.

A third vaccine from AstraZeneca/Oxford University is expected to arrive by the middle of this year.

BASAHIN ANG DETALYE

PADALA NA!

CALL US!

Experts panel rules out link between Covid-19 jabs and deaths, side-effects

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Expert panel says none of the deaths or serious illnesses are directly linked to Sinovac jabs

An expert panel has unanimously ruled out any links between the recent deaths of two people, and two others getting seriously ill, to their having received Covid-19 vaccination.

The cases included a 55-year-old woman who died on Mar 6, four days after receiving a Sinovac jab, and a 71-year-old man who died early today, five days after vaccination at a private clinic.

Panel co-convenor Dr Ivan Hung said a preliminary autopsy showed the woman, who had a history of hypertension and diabetes, could have suffered a stroke, because of tears in the aorta.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Hung called the woman "high risk" because of her poorly controlled heart disease. “Whether they are vaccinated or not, they would still be at risk of having a sudden death,” he said.

As for the most recent death, the experts said they are still getting a detailed autopsy report on the cause of death. However, they concluded that there is insufficient evidence to suggest any of the cases were serious adverse effects of the Sinovac vaccine.

Earlier, the panel also ruled out a connection between the death of a 63-year-old man from an apparent heart attack and his having been vaccinated with Sinovac. The man, who had diabetes and high blood pressure, was reportedly found with clogged arteries after he died.

Call now!

Hung said the death rate for people who have been vaccinated is comparable to that for the general population, noting that people die everyday from chronic illnesses.

The experts say the advantages far outweigh the risks of getting vaccinated

Apart from the two deaths, the experts also took note of two patients who fell critically ill after getting vaccinated.

One of them is an 80-year-old man who was inoculated on Mar 1 and was hospitalized and put in intensive case days later. The initial check-up showed he had diabetes and stroke, and that his present condition was not caused by the vaccination.

CALL US!

The other one involved another diabetic, a 72-year-old woman who was taken to hospital on Mar 7 and is now in critical condition. The panel decided she may have fallen ill because she failed to take her insulin injections after her vaccination.

Meanwhile, Dr Ronald Lam, director of the Centre for Health Protection said that people who die or become seriously ill after vaccination should meet two conditions before they could get compensation from a special fund set up by the government for this purpose.

First, their medical condition must be certified by a registered doctor, and second, that medical experts are able to ascertain that the case is related to vaccination, or are unable to disregard a causal link.

PRESS FOR MORE DETAILS

The government has set aside a $1 billion compensation fund, with payouts of up to $2 million in case of death resulting from vaccination.

Lam said that as of Sunday, 91,800 people have received the vaccine from Sinovac, while 1,200 others got the jab from Pfizer/BioNTech. About 64% of those vaccinated were people aged 60 or more.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

He said that as of 4pm today, there were 16 non-serious adverse reaction cases reported, and 45 such incidents that required hospitalization.

He reminded the public that anyone with a history of severe allergies or has chronic diseases should consult a doctor to assess the risk of vaccination.

BASAHIN ANG DETALYE

PADALA NA!

CALL US!

 

Filipina DH co-accused in $14.6m jewelry theft to admit pawning stolen items

by Vir B. Lumicao

This necklace belonging to Mrs Liang was among those recovered from a pawnshop

One of the three Filipina co-accused of domestic worker Carmelita Nones in a $14.6 million theft case in Eastern Court will plead guilty in April to all but one of seven charges of handling stolen goods filed against her.

Cristina N. Alagna will enter her plea in the next hearing on April 12, Magistrate Daniel Tang said after approving the adjournment request from barrister Oliver Davies, lawyer for Nones, in a hearing today, Mar 8.

Pindutin para sa detalye

The case was supposed to have been committed (or transferred) today to the Court of First Instance, where it would be scheduled for trial. But during the hearing, no mention was made about the committal.

Alagna faces seven counts of handling stolen goods while her friend Maricris G. Nones, a niece of Carmelita, faces five counts. She was arrested last year along with Maricris after pawnshop records showed she had hocked some of the jewelry.

Call now!

Marina G. Biala, a sister of Nones, faces one count of handling stolen goods after a bag with about 40 jewelry pieces was found in her room.

Prosecutors rejected Nones' offer to plead guilty if her co-accused were set free

On Jan 18, Davies told Magistrate David Cheung talks were under way among the defense, the prosecution and the victims, business executive David Liang and his wife Helen Frances, that could lead to more recoveries of the missing jewelry.

CALL US!

At the same time, prosecutors consolidated the multiple theft cases against Nones with the handling charges against her three co-accused, so they could be heard at the same time.

They rejected an offer made by Nones during an earlier hearing on Dec 21 that she would plead guilty to all the charges against her in exchange for the dropping of the charges against her co-accused.

PRESS FOR MORE DETAILS

Nones is accused of stealing 200 pieces of jewelry over a 10-month period that culminated with her allegedly stealing two Piaget watches from her employers worth $100,000 each on Aug 11, 2019.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

It was only after that incident that the Liang couple reportedly discovered their safe had been looted, and that many more items of jewelry and gold bars were missing.

BASAHIN ANG DETALYE

PADALA NA!

CALL US!