DH jailed 6 months for stealing $88K worth of jewelry

 

Where theft took place (Photo from Google Maps)

A domestic helper was jailed for six months today after she admitted stealing $88,000 worth of jewelry from her employer.

Janice Abel, 33 years old, was charged before the Eastern Court after police found pawnshop receipts in her belongings, showing that she raised $12,000 from pawning the jewelry believed to have been stolen between March 19 and May 23 this year from her employer’s Quarry Bay flat.

The jewelry consisted of five necklaces, two bracelets and two rings.

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The employer has since recovered the jewelry after paying the $12,000 to the pawnshops, and wanted to recover the amount from Abel.

Abel’s duty lawyer, however, said she was jobless and unable to pay the compensation.

In mitigation, the lawyer said she was forced to steal to pay off debts she incurred in coming to work in Hong Kong.

Magistrate Don So asked the lawyer what the penalty was for the offense.

After the lawyer answered that the maximum was two years imprisonment, So handed down a six-month sentence.

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JoyYou joy for seniors using Octopus over next 2 weeks

 

Seniors will get 8% off purchases at participating merchants

From tomorrow, Aug 28, until Sept. 10, seniors holding JoyYou cards will receive a $8 cash rebate for every $100 they spend at participating merchants, for a total of no more than $800 per user.

The “828 JoyYou Fest” celebrates the full transition to the use of the JoyYou cards by those aged 60 and above as of last Sunday.

The MTR Corporation said a total budget of of $8.28 million has been set aside for the promotion.

Cardholders can collect their rebate by tapping their cards via the Octopus mobile app or at Octopus Service Points starting this Saturday.

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Over 60 participating merchants -- including popular names like Café de Coral and PARKnSHOP -- will also offer flash bargains geared towards the elderly at more than 3,500 selected outlets.

The MTR Corporations said the campaign is in recognition of the elderly’s contribution of $2 billion in retail consumption each month, and is aimed at boosting consumer spending.

By the last quarter of the year, Octopus plans to launch a virtual JoyYou card that can be used on smartphones and smartwatches, to further boost spending among seniors.

The promo could be held annually, depending on the results of the initial event.

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Two FDHs arrested in latest anti-illegal worker operation

 

The FDHs were arrested in footbridge over Mong Kok area (Photo from Google Maps)

Two more foreign domestic helpers selling food on a pedestrian footbridge were arrested in a joint operation by the Immigration Department (ImmD) and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in Mong Kok on Sunday (Aug. 25)

The two women, aged 21 and 35, are expected to face breach of condition of stay charges in court.

Their arrest came just two weeks after two other unnamed FDHs were arrested at the same spot for the same reason.

An ImmD spokesman said, "A foreign domestic helper should only perform domestic duties for the employer specified in the Standard Employment Contract. The helper could not carry out any non-domestic work, or take up, or join or establish any business other than the contracted domestic work, whether paid or unpaid, in Hong Kong.”

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Those who violate the rule “are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years' imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties," the spokesman said

As a standard procedure, Immigration officers conducted an initial screening of those arrested – who fall under the category of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers -- to ascertain whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims.

Among the signs they look for are TIP elements such as threats and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation.

Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter or temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments immediately.

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No-show at court worsens Pinoy’s case of stealing 2 shirts, pants

 

Kwun Tong Court (photo from Google Maps)

A Filipino charged with stealing two t-shirts and two pairs of pants plunged into deeper trouble today after he failed to show up for a hearing today at the Kowloon City Court, resulting in an arrest warrant being issued against him.

A. Delfino, 24 years old, is accused of theft for allegedly taking the clothes belonging to a Chinese, from outside a room in the New Lucky House on Jordan Road last July 16.

Acting Principal Magistrate Ko Wai-hung ordered his arrest after he did not come forward when his case was called, and court personnel confirmed he was not just outside the court.

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Delfino has no fixed address in Hong Kong, according to information filed by police.

Meanwhile, at the Kwun Tong court, domestic helper Riza Gamba was given another chance to prepare for her defense against a charge of theft after she appeared without a lawyer.

Gamba, aged 42, is accused of stealing $1,401.90 worth of food and drink from Fresh Supermarket in Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O, consisting of one pack of apples, one bottle of sake,one bottle of wine, two cans of fruit cocktail, one pack of pork knuckles, two packs of pork chop, one pack of roasted pork belly, three cans of condensed milk, two recycling bags, one pack of cream cheese and one pack of cherry tomato.

When asked why she had no lawyer, having been represented in the previous hearing, Gamba said she lost track of the requirements because she was depressed.

“You are facing a criminal charge. You should take it seriously,” Chief Magistrate So Wai-tak said, advising her to go to the Duty Lawyer Service, which had already provide her a lawyer for free.

“I give you a last chance,” he said as he gave her a six-week adjournment to Oct.7.

Magistrate So set her free on $500 bail.

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Filipina pleads guilty at start of trial for 3 cases

 

The pavement where the offenses were committed (Google maps photo)

A Filipina domestic helper arrested in Central for selling a fake t-shirt, was jailed for six weeks after she pleaded guilty to three offenses at the start of her trial Friday (Aug. 23) at Eastern Court.

The trial was set last June 24 after Bianca Inocencio, 36 years old, pleaded not guilty, to selling a t-shirt with a fake label, possession of 26 t-shirts with fake brand labels, and breach of her condition of stay for doing business while working as a domestic helper.

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Deputy Magistrate Paul Yip had actually sentenced Inocencio to six weeks for each of the charges, but made the jail terms run at the same time.

Inocencio  was arrested by officers from the Customs and Excise Department on Jan. 14 on the pavement near Prince’s Bldg. and near MTR Exit K for allegedly selling a t-shirt with a forged Adidas trademark, in violation of the Trade Description Ordinance.

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She was also charged with possession of goods with forged trademarks, namely 19 T-shirts with the Adidas mark, 15 Nike and two Puma.

When the officers found out during the investigation that she was a domestic helper, they also charged her with violation of the Immigration Ordinance and Immigration Regulations.

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Filipino misses drug case hearing, ordered arrested

 

West Kowloon Courthouse

A Filipino accused of drug possession and overstaying has put himself in deeper trouble when he failed to show up a hearing of his case at West Kowloon Court Friday (Aug. 24).

Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui issued a warrant of arrest against Gian Edward Aldea, 35 years old, forfeited his cash bail and ordered that he not be allowed to post a police bail in case he is arrested.

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Aldea, who is unemployed, is facing two charges filed by the Tsuen Wan Police last May 24.

The first charge, possession of a dangerous drug in violation of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, resulted from one plastic bag allegedly found on him during a routine police chek last April 11 at  Lo Tak Court in Tsuen Wan, New Territories.

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The plastic bag contained 0.85 gram of a crystalline solid containing methamphetamine hydrochloride, otherwise known a shabu or ice.

During investigation it was also discovered that Aldea had overstayed his visa, which was valid until April 1, resulting in police filing a charge of breach of condtion of stay in violatun of the Immigration Ordinance.

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Stomach aneurysm caused death of ex-congen, colleagues say

 

ASec Raly Tejada lies in state at Arlington Chapels in QC

Many friends and colleagues of Assistant Foreign Secretary Raly Tejada, who also served as the Philippine consul general to Hong Kong until last year, continue to express shock and sadness over his untimely passing last Tuesday,  Aug. 20, at the age of 53.

Among them is Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Antonio Morales, who was among the first to attend the wake for Tejada at the Arlington Memorial Chapels in Quezon City which began yesterday.

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Morales, who preceded Tejada as consul general in Hong Kong, disclosed that a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, was what triggered Tejada’s death.

Medical literature indicate that the so-called triple A disease, which pertains to the swelling of the aorta, or the main blood vessel that leads away from the heart, down through the abdomen to the rest of the body- is often fatal.

USec Morales was among the early mourners for his HK successor

Morales said Tejada was alone in his flat along Roxas Boulevard and was already dressed to attend a meeting with Secretary Enrique A. Manalo at 10am that morning, when he apparently collapsed. As he was never late for meetings, DFA staff members were hurriedly dispatched to check on him.

Tejada reportedly still had a pulse when he was found at about noon. He was rushed to nearby San Juan de Dios Hospital, but never regained consciousness.

Also among the first to express shock and sadness over his passing is current Consul General Germinia Aguilar-Usudan, who was his deputy for the entire four years that he was head of post in Hong Kong, from December 2019 to December 2023.

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“Until now hindi ako makapaniwala (I cannot believe it). I’m still in shock,” said Congen Usudan. “He was a good man. DFA needs people like him.”

Usudan said what made the news more shocking was that Tejada was relatively young and was a fitness buff. He was known to play basketball regularly and was so careful with his health that he managed to escape being infected with Covid-19 even while he shepherded the community through the three years of the pandemic.

Also expressing sadness at his passing was Ambassador Tess Dizon-De Vega, who was also posted in Hong Kong in the early 2000s as deputy consul general.

She said in a Facebook post, “Farewell to a dear colleague and one of the best in our country’s diplomatic service - I am still in shock at the sad news. Assec Raly Tejada was a fellow Hong Kong PCG alum and a steady source of sound advice and insights through the years. I will remember him best when he took over the helm of one of our most challenging Posts, hitting the ground running from Day 1 with a deep sense of service. Padayon Panero.”

At Arlington, also among the early mourners were Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Arnell Ignacio, who joined former welfare officer to Hong Kong Virsie Tamayao; and spouses Edgar and Marifi Guibone, formerly of the assistance to nationals section.

Tejada's widow, Vivian (in black) speaks with OWWA's Ignacio and Tamayao

Ambassador-designate to Romania, Noel Servigon, who also served as consul general in Hong Kong, came earlier today.

Meanwhile, a memorial mass was held at the Consulate on Thursday, attended mostly by staff and Filipino residents and community leaders.

A second mass will be held tomorrow, Sunday, 5pm, also at the Consulate, to accommodate the many overseas Filipino workers who wish to say a final farewell to one of the country’s friendliest congens in Hong Kong.

A book of condolences has also been set up at the Consulate, and among the first to sign it was Hong Kong’s Secretary for Labour and Manpower Chris Sun, who also sent a floral wreath.

The Condolence Book will be available for signing during office hours, 9am to 4pm, until Aug. 29.

The Condolence Book at the Consulate

Tejada is survived by his Hong Kong-born wife, Vivian, his mother Lily, and three siblings.

His remains will be at Arlington until Aug 27, after which they will be transferred to the Department of Foreign Aairs for a private memorial service on Aug. 28. Interment will be held later on the same day at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.

(Tejada was a lawyer and career diplomat. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, his Juris Doctor degree from the San Sebastian College of Law, his Master of Public Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he was Public Policy Fellow.

He served with the DFA for nearly three decades, with Hong Kong his first foreign assignment a vice consul in 2000. After three years, he was assigned to Geneva, Switzerland to serve as first secretary to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations.

After his mandatory recall to the home office, he was posted briefly as deputy consul general in Vancouver, Canada, then as consul general in Guangzhou, China from 2011 to 2015.

From 2017 to 2019 he was posted as deputy head of mission and consul general at the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before being moved to Hong Kong as head of post and consul general, from 2019 to 2023.

Thursday mass at the HK Consulate, which Tejada headed through the protests and the pandemic 

Under his leadership, the consulate received the Best Organization Award and Best Assistance-To-Nationals Award in the 2021 DFA Praise Awards.

He was designated as assistant secretary in charge of the legal division in DFA early this year, a post he kept until his death. 

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Swedish businessman faces ‘lengthy sentence’ for rape of Nepalese maid

 

Ekstrom is shown leaving court during the trial (Photo by Kyle Lam of HK Free Press)

A Swedish businessman described as having acted out of character faces up to a life in jail for raping his foreign domestic helper from Nepal two years ago. 

A seven-member jury unanimously voted to convict Patrik Tobias Ekstrom, 36, of a count of rape and another of buggery without consent against his helper, identified in court only as “X,” in a decision handed down at the Court of First Instance on Aug. 22.

In mitigation, his lawyer, Simon So, said his client suffered from bipolar disorder at the time of the offense, which happened on the day Ekstrom learned that his wife had left him, and had taken their three children with her to her home country of Japan.

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So asked the court to allow Ekstrom to post bail pending the submission of a psychiatric and psychological report on him, but prosecutor Diane Crebbin opposed the application.

Recorder Derek Chan, who presided over the trial, rejected the application, saying the defendant was facing a “lengthy” sentence. He set down the sentencing on Nov. 11.

Under Hong Kong law, the maximum penalty for rape and non-consensual buggery is life imprisonment.

On the night of the rape, X said Ekstrom returned to his Shek O home late on Oct.27, 2022, drunk, and forced her into his bedroom while saying “I love you, I want you”. He threatened to kill her if she did not give in to his demand for sex.

The next morning, X packed up her belongings and left the house, then filed a complaint with the police. Ekstrom was arrested that night.

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But Ekstrom said in his defence that it was the helper who initiated sex with him as she wanted to give him “comfort’ after his family left him.

He also claimed they had consensual sex twice in July, when he gave her money each time, and after which the helper had asked for help in repaying another debt. 

The court heard that Ekstrom had advanced four months of X’s salary earlier so she could pay off a debt.

In his closing statement, the defence counsel pointed to a statement made by a forensic pathologist who examined X after the incident, that there were no recent identifiable injuries on X, including on her genital areas. So said this was inconsistent with the forceful sex that the victim had claimed.

But Crebbin belied all the defense claims, saying X would not have left her employer’s house and put her job on the line if she had consented to the rape. In her evidence, X admitted that the family had been very kind to her,

Crebbin said Ekstrom had fabricated the alleged sexual encounters in July to explain the rape that took place in October.

She also dismissed Ekstrom’s claim about feeling devastated about his wife and children leaving, saying it was not believable that he would accept the alleged advances from X under such circumstances.

In mitigation, the defense counsel said Ekstrom was diagnosed with bipolar disorder two years ago, shortly after his family fell apart.

So said that up until then, the defendant had been a “successful businessman”, and incurred only a drink-driving conviction about 10 years before the rape.

He told the court that after the rape, Ekstrom was found guilty of criminally damaging property in a hospital and in a police vehicle, with both incidents occurring after he was found walking naked in public.

He added the defendant was also involved in a car crash and made a false report of burglary to police when he was suffering from the mental disorder.

He called on the court to consider Ekstrom’s mental state in coming up with an appropriate sentence.

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Repeat offender jailed for 23 months for illegal work

 

The Shatin court took note of the accused's prior convictions in sentencing

A Pakistani recognizance form holder was ordered jailed for 23 months by a Shatin magistrate on Aug 20 after he was arrested in the act of setting up a stall in Mong Kok.

As the 52-year-old defendant was found to have similar convictions in the past, he was meted the stiff penalty despite pleading guilty to illegal work.

He was arrested during a joint operation between the Immigration Department and the Hong Kong police on July 16.

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A check of his identity documents showed he was a recognizance form holder, which prohibits him from taking employment or setting up a business.

He was subsequently charged with “taking employment while being a person in respect of whom a removal order or deportation order was in force.”

Under section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, an illegal immigrant, a person subject to removal or deportation order, an overstayer or a person refused permission to land, is prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders can be fined up to $50,000 and jailed for up to three years.

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Employers of illegal workers are equally liable, and could be meted the maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and fine of up to $500,000. An immediate custodial sentence is prescribed in the sentencing guidelines set by the High Court.

The director, manager, secretary or other officers of a company found to have employed an illegal worker may also bear criminal liability.

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22 Vietnamese illegal immigrants sent back home

 

The repatriated IIs included 13 women

The Immigration Department repatriated a total of 22 Vietnamese illegal immigrants on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

They comprised nine men and 13 women, all of whom filed for non-refoulement but were unable to substantiate their claims.

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Among them were discharged prisoners.

Immigration said in a statement following the operation that it remains committed to promptly removing unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants from Hong Kong to maintain effective immigration control and safeguard public interest.

The male repatriates are herded to the plane that took them home

Under the updated removal policy which took effect on December 7, 2022, Immigration may as a matter of practice proceed with the removal of a claimant whose application for a judicial review has been dismissed by the High Court.

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The same policy applies to the removal of overstayers from Hong Kong as soon as practicable.

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Filipina avoids arrest for being absent in trial

 

Aerial photo of Discovery Bay (https://www.visitdiscoverybay.com/)

A Filipina accused of dropping a safe from a 16th floor flat in Discovery Bay, barely avoided being arrested for failure to show up at the hearing of her case at Eastern Court on Wednesday (Aug. 21) when she surrendered later in the day.

Deputy Magistrate Cindy Li cancelled the warrant of arrest she earlier issued against A.G. Chavanne, 39 years old, but forfeited her $1,000 cash bail.

Magistrate Li set her free on a new and higher cash bail of $5,000, with the admonition that she show up on Sept. 6 for the handing down of verdict.

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Chavanne was put on trial on a charge of dropping a safe from a window of a 16th floor flat in Cherish Court in Discovery Bay last Jan. 25 “to the danger or injury of any person outside the building”, which is a public place, an act prohibited under Section 4B (1) the Summary Offences Ordinance.

The law provides that if “anything is dropped or allowed to fall from any building to the danger or injury of any person in or near a public place, the person who drops that thing or allows it to fall commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 3 ($10,000) and imprisonment for 6 months.”

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The charge took the place of a withdrawn criminal intimidation case, in which Chavanne was accused of threatening to harm Cassius Crowther in the same Discovery Bay flat 19 days earlier, on Jan. 6.

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DMW reminds Filipinos of no-placement fee policy in Canada

 

The advisory was the first to be issued by Cacdac since his confirmation as DMW chief

The Department of Migrant Workers has issued a reminder that job applicants for Canada are not supposed to pay any placement fee to their broker or agency.

The reminder was made in yesterday's advisory from MDW Secretary Hans Cacdac, which also informed the public that with effect from June 1, the daily minimum wage rate for workers in Canada has risen to CA$17.40 per hour from the previous CA$16.75..

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Cacdac reminded would-be job applicants to Canada to apply only with licensed recruitment agencies, which can be found through this link: https://dmw.gov.ph/licensed-recruitment-agencies.

They can also check the approved job orders per country here: https://dmw.gov.ph/approved-job-orders.

Alternatively they can send a private message to the Facebook page, “DMW Anti-Illegal Recruitment and Trafficking in Persons Program” if they are charged fees in exchange for offered jobs in Canada.

Previously, Cacdac also warned would-be OFWs to be wary of visa consultancy firms that offer help in securing student visas to Canada, which they are assured, would allow them to work at the same time. These companies are not licensed to recruit OFWs, and often disappear as soon as they receive the hefty processing fee paid by the worker.

 said.

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