Woman Fined for ‘Forgetting to Pay’ for Supermarket Items

Image Caption: A Wellcome supermarket in Hong Kong. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Terence Ong

The Filipino driver claimed she panicked and was confused when she heard her employer was looking for her

By ASIA TIMES STAFF

A Filipino woman was fined HK$2,000 (US$256) after she “forgot to pay” for HK$390 worth of goods at a supermarket in Hong Kong.

On October 20 last year, Maria Luisa Godoy, 59, a driver who has worked in Hong Kong for 20 years, went to a Wellcome supermarket on Hong Kong Island to buy lunch and personal hygiene goods, reports sunwebhk.com, a news portal for Filipinos in Hong Kong.

Godoy put her purchases in a reusable shopping bag that she had placed in her basket. She said later that while she was at the cashier, her employer sent her a message regarding a driving task.

She said she became nervous and panicked when her employer called her saying she had been looking her. She left the supermarket after paying for only four items totaling HK$94.70. She told the cashier that she was in a rush and would come back to pay for the remaining items.

However, a guard stopped her for failing to pay for the other items in her bag. She allegedly said she had forgotten to pay for them. She was then arrested for theft.

On January 24 at Eastern Courts, Godoy was fined HK$2,000 for theft.

In Hong Kong, the maximum penalty for theft is a jail term of 10 years.

(Source: atimes.com)