Police arrest employer of ‘abused’ Filipina DH

By Daisy C L Mandap  

The story behind the ugly marks on Eden's back needs to be told 

Hong Kong Police say they have arrested the 35-year-old female employer of a Filipina domestic helper who claimed to have been assaulted twice in May. 

 

A police spokesperson said the employer was detained on May 31 for “assault occasioning bodily harm” but was released on police bail. She is required to report back to police in late June. 

 

“Investigation by Regional Crime Unit of New Territories South is underway,” said a police statement sent on Monday, Jun 7. 

 

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The Filipina, Eden P., sought police help on May 30 after she fled her employer’s house in Serenade Cove on Castle Peak Road in Tsuen Wan, claiming to have been assaulted. She is due to report back to police later today to give more information, with help from a Filipino translator which the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section had requested. 

 

In her previous interview at the Shatin Police station, Eden, who is turning 37 on Jun 11, was assisted by an English interpreter. She also provided only two recent instances of abuse by her employer, which she said is a teacher. 

 

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But in a separate interview she gave on Sunday, Jun 6, with the Mission for Migrant Workers, Eden said she was assaulted repeatedly by Mak for a year, or two months after she started working for her in March 2020. She also claimed criminal intimidation, or threats to her life.

 

One particular incident she recalled happened between October and November last year, when Mak allegedly pulled her hair and banged her head against the wall after she failed to comply with an order.

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Then sometime in mid-February this year, after Mak saw that her 19-month-old son did not finish his congee, she allegedly put some dish detergent onto it, then forced Eden to eat it. The helper said: “I was so afraid of her (Mak) that I was forced to eat the congee with detergent.”

 

From then on, every time Mak would hear her baby cry, she would allegedly scold and scream at Eden, then pull her hair, slap, kick or hit her legs and thigh, pinch her and scratch her face, back and chest.

 

In late February this year, Mak reportedly got upset when Eden failed to finish a chore she was told to do because she was made to other things at the same time. In her anger, Mak allegedly inserted her hand inside the helper’s shirt from the back, then scratched her deeply from the nape down.

The last two incidents which she reported to police happened on May 25 and 29, when Mak allegedly assaulted her repeatedly because she failed to do her bidding concerning the baby.

The bruises on her thighs were caused by a metal food-turner, Eden claims

On May 25, Mak allegedly emptied a bag full of toy blocks onto the helper’s head, then after two hours, flared up again when the baby started crying. When she saw that the boy did not finish his congee, Mak reportedly slapped the maid 15 times on both sides of her face, using both hands.

Not content with this, Mak took a metal food turner hanging on a wall and hit Eden five times, on both her thighs and her belly, leaving ugly marks. She also kicked the helper on the legs, shouting “I will kill you, put you in hell.” Mak then took the helper’s cell phone and kept it.

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The next major incident happened on May 29, when the employer again got mad because her baby was crying. When she saw that the baby did not eat his pasta, she reportedly slapped Eden on both sides of her face about 10 times, using both hands.

She then allegedly punched Eden hard on her chest and back, then scratched her on the face and back. The attack caused her face to bleed and her chest and back to hurt.

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The next day, after Mak, her husband and two young sons left the house, Eden seized the chance to flee and seek help from her employment agency, Get Maid. Another Filipina staying at the agency’s boarding house accompanied her to the Shatin Police station to file a complaint.

During her 14-month employment, Eden said she was not allowed to take a day-off, with Mak saying she should stay in the flat because of Covid-19. On her supposed rest days, she was allowed only two hours of rest inside the employer’s study room where she also slept at night

 

Her employer’s husband, a physiotherapist, reportedly told Eden his wife was suffering from post-partum depression. 

The Consulate is providing shelter and legal assistance to Eden.

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Filipina overstayer gets 6 months for money laundering

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Vargas's friends say she claimed on Facebook to having made money from the illicit deal

A Filipina former domestic helper was sentenced today, Jun 7, to six months in jail after admitting a charge of laundering nearly $700,000 through her bank account over a 16-month period until August last year.

Kris Hope Vargas, who has been detained a month longer than her sentence, was kept in custody as she still faces another charge for overstaying her visa.

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She had earlier denied the charge of “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence”, saying she lost her ATM card before the illegal transactions were made.

But she decided to admit the offense shortly before she was to go on trial before Magistrate Edward Wong.

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After sentencing, Vargas was told she will have to return to Eastern Court on Jul 9 for the hearing of her overstaying case.  According to Immigration, she stayed illegally in Hong Kong after she was prematurely dismissed by her employer in late February last year.

Her lawyer went back to court with her after sentencing to apply for bail, but the magistrate rebuked him, saying he should have made the application before the hearing ended.

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According to the charge that Vargas admitted, she used her Hang Seng bank account for multiple deposits and withdrawals totaling $694,056 between Apr 15, 2019 and August 2020.

Police investigating cases of “romance scams” pulled by unknown conmen on local women received a complaint on Feb 29, 2020 by a local man who said he was conned by a soldier in Afghanistan who became his cyber friend. The victim, Lyu Wenbo, 55, said he was asked to pay $26,559 for customs duty and delivery fee of a parcel the soldier sent to him.

The victim paid the fees asked by depositing them in Hang Seng bank account given by the culprit. But the parcel was not delivered. He complained to police and the account was traced to Vargas.

Vargas was arrested on Nov 29 last year outside Chungking Mansion in Tsim Sha Tsui. Police were alerted when the bank noticed the suspicious transactions. The illicit transactions continued even after she had gone underground after her visa lapsed on Mar 10 last year.

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In her previous court appearance, Vargas’ lawyer told Magistrate Law that his client was not aware her ATM card was being used to move illegally acquired money. He said his client had lost the card before those transactions were made.

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However, some of her friends have passed on photos that Vargas had posted on Facebook, ostensibly showing her withdrawing cash that was transferred to her Hang Seng account by the unknown money launderers.

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Filipina DH pleads guilty to stealing employer's jewelry worth $14.6 million

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Nones celebrating a  happy occasion before her arrest

A Filipina domestic helper has admitted stealing $14.6 million worth of jewelry, gold bars and other valuables from her wealthy employers in Deepwater Bay over a period of 14 months, from June 2018 to August 2019.

Carmelita G. Nones, who is married and hails from La Union, admitted all six theft charges filed against her when she appeared in Eastern Court today, Jun 7.

Her niece, Maricris G. Nones and her cousin, Cristina N. Alagna, also pleaded guilty to acting as Nones’ accomplices by handling the goods she stole. Maricris admitted four counts of handling stolen goods, and Alagna, six.

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All three were returned to custody until their sentencing at the Court of First Instance. Magistrate Daniel Tang set a transfer hearing of the case in Eastern Court on Jun 9. 

Under Hong Kong laws, the maximum sentence for theft is ten years in jail.

A fourth accused, Carmelita’s sister, Marina G. Biala, pleaded not guilty to a charge of handling stolen goods, so her case will be sent to the District Court for trial.

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Police said they found a bag containing part of the loot in Nones' bedroom in her employer’s house. The bag a watch, two bangles and necklace all worth $6,800.

Right after the four defendants were called out to the courtroom today, their lawyers led by barrister Oliver Davies said defendants Nones, M. Nones and Alagna would plead guilty to the charges and Biala would not plead guilty.

Carmelita Nones admitted to stealing about 200 jewelry pieces, gold bars and some cash from her employers, New World Development executive director David Liang and his wife Helen Frances during six different periods.

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Between June 17 and July 27, 2018, she stole an assortment of jewelry including eight necklaces, seven bangles, 11 pairs of earrings, a single earring, 2 bracelets, a 50-gram gold bar and a 187-gram gold bar, 10 rings and 31 gold coins owned by Mrs Liang. The total value of the stolen goods was $6,028,000.

Some of the gold coins and gold bar recovered from a pawnshop

Between Jun 27 and Aug 11, 2019, she took two Piaget luxury watches valued at $100,000 each belonging to the Liang couple.

In the third charge which covers a period between June and December 2018, Nones stole a watch, a necklace, 2 bangles, 7 pairs of earrings, all valued at $6,800, belonging to Mrs Liang. They were recovered in a bag in Nones' room.

On Sept 5, 2019, Marina Galay Biala returned to Mrs Liang a bag that Nones had asked her to keep which contained 23 necklaces, 3 bracelets, 2 bangles, 11 pairs of earrings, 1 piece of earring, 11 pendants, 5 rings, 1 brooch, 3 watches, Chanel jewelry pieces valued at $120,000, various jewelry pieces valued at $3,000, and cash worth $4,000. The total value of the goods was $4,814,400.

Between Jun 3, 2018 and Feb 18, 2019, Nones took 6 necklaces, 9 bangles, 6 rings and 4 pairs of earrings, 2 bracelets and a pendant with a total value of $2,235,000. Between May 13 and Jun 2, 2018, she stole 3 bangles, 7 bracelets, 2 pairs of earrings, 3 single earrings, 1 pendant, 2 necklaces and 4 rings with a total value of $1,265,000 all belonging to Mrs Liang.

In all, the value of jewelry, gold bars and other ornaments that she stole was listed as  $14.6 million.

3 bangles, one diamond-studded, made up one batch

The jewelry, cash, gold bars and coins were stolen by Nones in six batches and disposed of mostly by her and with the help of Maricris and Alagna.

The evidence presented in court included 25 pawnshop receipts totaling $688,850 for the first batch of stolen items. The jewelry pieces were pawned by Nones herself.

The court was told Mrs Liang spent $891,160 to get back some of her jewelry, but not all were recovered.

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The second batch comprised the couple’s matching Piaget watches worth $200,000. The discovery that they were missing in September 2019 was what sparked the arrest and subsequent investigation into Nones’ thefts.

One diamond necklace valued at $750,000 that was discovered missing early in the investigation wasn’t recovered from pawnshops. And so were 9 earrings, a karat gold ring with diamond, 2 bangles, 5 rings and 1 bracelet. 

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On Jun 19, 2019, a total of $2,235,500 worth of assorted jewelry were hocked at various pawnshops. Mrs Liang paid $342,124 to the pawnshops to recover her jewelry but some were not recovered.

Diamond-studded necklace redeemed by Liang for over $50k

The last batch taken by Nones was assorted jewelry worth $1,265,000 for which Mrs Liang paid the pawnshops $217,730 to recover.

M. Nones was responsible for pawning between Jun 3 and Nov 25, 2018 assorted stolen jewelry worth $2,110,000 owned by Mrs Liang for which the pawnshops paid her $222,250. Mrs Liang paid the pawnshops $316,514 for their recovery.

For her part, Alagna helped pawn $1,145,000 worth of the loot on five various occasions between May 13, 2018 and June 2, 2019. Mrs Liang spent $204,960 to recover them. 

According to a source close to Mrs Liang, the employer had kept most of the jewelry in a safe inside her bedroom, and was clueless as to how Carmelita managed to learn the combination to open the safe and steal the items.

The source also said the employer had asked investigators in the Philippines to check on Nones’ lifestyle, and received photos showing the helper had built two lavish houses in her hometown, and owned a number of vehicles.

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Third member of Tin Shui Wai family found with UK variant

By The SUN 

A microbiologist says a recent arrival must have passed on the UK variant to the 3 patients

A microbiologist has called on the government to re-test people who arrived in Hong Kong from high-risk places in the past month, to see if any of them is carrying the N501Y variant, and has spread it to three members of a family in Tin Shui Wai.

Ho Pak-leung from the University of Hong Kong made the call as a 20-year-old member of the family became the latest to test positive for the Alpha variant of the coronavirus which was first found in the United Kingdom.

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Her younger sister and mother had both tested positive for the mutated strain earlier, and the source of their infection is unknown. It is the first time the variant was found locally.

Ho said in an interview with RTHK that he believes the family was infected by someone who had just arrived from overseas and whose infection was not detected during the quarantine period.

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“What can be done now is to contact people who arrived in the past 3 to 4 weeks from places categorized as high risk and have left their quarantine hotels. Authorities should trace their contacts, and conduct both antibody tests – which are currently not being done now- as well as nucleic acid tests,” he said.

The antibody tests would show whether a person had previously been infected with Covid-19. Ho said this test should now be done on each traveler on their arrival at the airport, and shortly before the end of their hotel quarantine.

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A statement from the Centre for Health Protection said the latest patient in the cluster was sent to a quarantine center after her 17-year-old sister tested positive on Jun 4.

On the same day, the patient developed a cough, runny nose and diarrhea and was admitted to hospital the next day. Her test result showed she had the N501Y variant, but did not carry the L452R or E484K mutant genes first found in other countries.

Both sisters and their mother did not get themselves vaccinated against Covid-19.

Nina Mall in Tsuen Wan is among those put under compulsory testing after a visit by the latest patient

A compulsory testing order on 12 places visited by the latest patient has already been issued by the CHP, on top of several other venues where her sister and mother had been.

Meanwhile, six imported cases were again reported today, including four new arrivals from Indonesia, three of them foreign domestic helpers.

The only non-FDH is a 29-year-old man who arrived on Jun 5 aboard Cathay Pacific fight CX 798 and was found to carry the L452R variant of the coronavirus.

Two of the female helpers, aged 35 and 36, flew in on Jun 6 aboard CX 798 and tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival at Hong Kong Airport. Neither had the mutated strain.

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The third, who is 22 years old, arrived on May 30 aboard the virus-plagued Garuda Airlines flight GA 876, and tested positive for Covid-19 while in a quarantine center. Her specimen sample is said to be too low to determine if she carries the mutated strain of the virus.

Garuda has been suspended from flying to Hong Kong since Jun 1, after three of its passengers from Indonesia who were all FDHs, were found to carry the variant on arrival at the airport.

A fourth subsequently tested positive for Covid-19, so the latest infected passenger is the fifth from that flight.

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The fifth imported case is a 25-year-old female returnee from the United Arab Emirates, who arrived on Jun 5 aboard Emirates flight EK 389. The result of her test for the presence of a coronavirus variant is still pending.

Rounding up the six imported cases is a 17-year-old female who flew in from the United States on Jun 3 aboard Korean Air flight Ka 7607. She tested positive for Covid-19 while in hotel quarantine, but negative for the mutant strain.

Hong Kong’s total coronavirus tally is now 11,865 with the addition of the latest cases.

A total of 33 cases have now been reported in the past 15 days, including the three local cases with the Alpha variant whose source is unknown.

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Mom & older sister of UK variant carrier also test positive for Covid-19

By The SUN 

Residents of Shing Yu House, where the patients live, will be tested four times

Seven new coronavirus cases in Hong Kong were reported today, Jun 6, including a lone local case, the 53-year-old mother of a teenage girl who was earlier found infected with the coronavirus variant first found in the United Kingdom.

It is the first time that the UK variant, with a scientific name B.1.1.7 and labeled by the World Health Organization as Alpha has been detected in a local case in Hong Kong.

The Centre for Health Protection said in a press statement that the 20-year-old sister of the index patient in the cluster is also a preliminary positive case. All three are residents of Shing Yu House, Block P, Tin Shing Court, in Tin Shui Wai.

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The housing block was locked down Friday night but all 850 residents tested all had negative test results. But since a variant case is involved, the residents will be tested four more times in the next two weeks as a precaution.

Their next compulsory testing is set for tomorrow, Jun 7.

The sister is one of fewer than five preliminary positive cases reported today. 

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The girls’ family members including her mother, who is a housewife, had been in quarantine since Jun 4 after they were identified as close contacts of the index patient.

The mother was asymptomatic. However, her test results, including a confirmatory screening by the Department of Health’s laboratory, showed she also carried the UK variant.

The CHP said the woman and both her daughters had not received Covid-19 vaccines.

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As for the older sister, she developed symptoms including cough, runny nose and diarrhea on Jun 4 and was admitted to hospital yesterday. Her respiratory specimen  tested preliminary positive.

The CHP said she is a student who attended online classes at home. Information she has provided showed she visited the following places in Tsuen Wan on May 29: 

Nina Mall 1, 8 Yeung Uk Road; Nina Mall 2, 98 Tai Ho Road; The Mills, 45 Pak Tin Par St; D‧Park shopping centre; NAMCO, Citywalk II; Volcano Kitchen One, G/F, 75 Tai Pa St, and Chan•Taiwan Cuisine, Shop 122, 1/F, Nina Mall 2. 

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The patient said that on May 23, she also visited these places: K11 Musea, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road; Cats Tea Room, Room 3, 3/F, Hai Phong Mansion, 53-55 Haiphong Road; eslite spectrum Store, 2/F-3/F, Star House, 3 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Dragon Centre, 37K Yen Chow St, Sham Shui Po, where she dined at Kakurega Ramen Factory, Room 7083, 7/F, of the mall.

K11 Musea will be put under compulsory testing notice again

As the patient did not use the “LeaveHomeSafe” mobile app, the CHP said it would broadcast messages to visitors of the same venues she visited according to the latest itinerary she had provided.

The places she had stayed in during the incubation period will be included in a compulsory testing notice. People who had been t the above venues at specified periods need to undergo compulsory testing on or before the specified date.  

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Six of today's cases are imported, and among them is a Filipino seafarer, aged 23, who arrived on Jun 4 from the Philippines via Asiana Flight OZ721 from Seoul. A staff of the Information Services Department said the man is found to be carrying the N501Y variant.

A 36-year-old Indian seaman also arrived on Friday on KLM Flight KL819 via Bangkok and was found carrying the L452R variant of the disease.

Hong Kong has imposed a ban on passenger flights from the Philippines and India from Apr 20 by virtue of their being “extremely high-risk” countries for Covid-19. But  seafarers from these designated places are allowed to take other routes to enter Hong Kong.

Also arriving last Friday were two Indonesian female helpers aged 28 and 33 who flew in from Surabaya. They tested positive for the regular Covid-19, staff at the government information said.

Today’s imported patients also included a woman aged 24 who arrived from France on Jun 2 on Flight KL819 and tested positive on the third day of her quarantine at Nina Hotel Island South in Wong Chuk Hang.

The sixth imported case was a man aged 58 who arrived from Dubai on Emirates flight EK384 on May 27 and stayed at Silka Tsuen Wan in Kwai Chung. He developed symptoms on Jun 4, took his 9^th day test and returned a positive result.

Today’s confirmed cases took Hong Kong’s total caseload to 11,859 so far, the CHP said.

A total of 21 cases have been reported in the past 14 days from May 23, including the 17-year-old girl.