Helper Pawns Boss’ Jewels for $5,400
FOR stealing gifts of jewelry to her employer and pawning them for $5,400, a Filipino domestic helper was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts.
Y.G. Bacani’s duty lawyer told Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai the defendant was unable to “make restitution” as she could not get in touch with her family members in the Philippines.
“Besides pleading guilty, there really is no other mitigation. The theft here is what referred to as theft in breach of trust. You stole from your employer and the total pawned value of the goods was $5,400.
“I’m told by the prosecution as the gifts was from the victim’s mother-in-law, the victim was not aware of the exact value,” said Judge Chainrai. The magistrate reduced Bacani’s jail term to eight weeks owing to her guilty plea.
Bacani was charged with stealing two gold rings, one silver ring, and one gold necklace with a jade pendant and were pawned in various pawn shops in Central, Western, and Wan Chai districts between February and March this year.
The jewels were kept by the employer, a policewoman, in an unlocked suitcase in her bedroom in her flat in Conduit Road in Central. On Mar. 22, the employer checked the suitcase and found three of its pockets emptied and the jewels missing.
When confronted, Bacani, who started working for her employer in Aug. 2016, admitted taking the items.
(Source: HongKongNews.com.hk)