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| Alejo (left) leaving court after an earlier hearing of his case |
A 73-year-old
Filipino jeweller who pawned about $1 million worth of jewelry entrusted to him
by two of his loyal clients was sent to 18 months in prison at Eastern Court
yesterday, Oct 19.
Celso E. Alejo,
Jr.’s fall from grace began some seven years ago when his jewelry business which
he ran from an office in On Hing Building in Central started having financial problems.
At the time two
sisters, M.K. Seen kay Kay and Mak Seen Wah, Sylvia, who had bought a number of
items from him worth well over a million dollars, entrusted a number of mostly
gold jewelry to him for appraisal and safekeeping.
These were
itemized as: 82 gold pendants, 75 gold coins, 16 gold bracelets, 8 gold rings,
7 gold disks, 6 gold ingots, 5 gold bangles, 5 gold figurines, 4 gold peaches,
3 gold ring bands, 2 gold peanuts, 2 gold balls, 2 gold chains, 1 gold Chinese
zodiac wheel, 1 wedge shape gold piece, 1 gold earring, 1 gold clip, 1 gold
frame, 1 gold bar and 1 platinum ring
To save his
business from going under, Alejo pawned his clients’ jewelry sometime in 2016
until October 2017. However, he was unable to redeem the jewelry nor pay back
the sisters, so he was charged with theft.
The second count
of theft involves his taking of a diamond necklace from a pawnshop in Central,
also belonging to the Seen sisters, on Jan. 17, 2017.
No other details
of the alleged offences were disclosed, but court records show that Sylvia Mak
had filed a civil case in a bid to recover her jewels from Alejo in 2018.
Alejo was
arrested and investigated on the two theft charges only on March 9 this year. The
hearing of his case was postponed at one point because his defense lawyer indicated
his withdrawal from the case.
He subsequently
pleaded guilty to the charges on August 3 this year, and Principal Magistrate
Ivy Chui set his sentencing on August 17.
Further delays
ensued when Alejo failed to appear in court twice. First, he sent word that he
was in hospital, but for the second his whereabouts were unknown so Magistrate Chui cancelled his bail of $40,000 and ordered his arrest.
In court on
Wednesday the duty lawyer representing Alejo asked for maximum leniency, saying
his client had retired and lived alone after his wife passed, and his son who is
in the United States hardly kept touch.
Although he was
well educated he now has to rely on social welfare assistance after his
business collapsed.
The lawyer also
said Alejo was remorseful, had a clear record and before he committed the
offences to save his business he was a law-abiding citizen.
He also tried to
use Alejo’s advanced age in appealing for a lenient sentence, but Magistrate
Chui said “old age is not a strong ground for mitigation.”
In sentencing, Magistrate
Chui said that Alejo committed a serious breach of trust and was in no position
to pay compensation to the victims.
She said that
the prescribed sentence for thefts where the amount involved is between
$250,000 and $ 1million is from two to three years in jail.
Given the amount
involved, she said the correct starting point should be around 36 months, but
decided to cap it at 27 months because of the unusual circumstances of the case
and Alejo’s age. She whittled it down further by 1/3 because of Alejo’s guilty
plea, leaving a final jail term of 18 months.
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