2 Pinays jailed for duping elderly HK businessman of nearly $1M

Immigration Tower in Wan Chai

A District Court judge sent two overstaying Filipinas to prison after they defrauded an elderly Australian businessman of nearly HK$1 million.

Judge Josiah Lam on December 20 sentenced Lyrma T. Cabe and her accomplice, Olivia A. Ramo, to two years and two months in prison for after they pleaded guilty to fraud and overstaying.

“The fraud perpetrated was no sophisticated. Nevertheless, it was carried out by them with some planning and persistence,” said Judge Lam.

The two Filipino women admitted to defrauding a 67-year-old Australian businessman here in Hong Kong of $940,000 from 2014 to 2015.

“Not a single centavo was recovered and the defendants are not in a position to pay (the victim),” the judge said.

The defendants arrived in Hong Kong in November 2012 as tourists but then they overstayed in the territory.

Judge Lam said a Filipino businessman introduced the defendants to the victim. The Filipino told the victim that the women were processing an inheritance claim with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC).

Cabe was supposed to be the legal heir to a fortune worth $25 million that was deposited in the bank.

“(She) produced documents to substantiate the false claims,” Judge Lam said.

The businessman then told the Australian that he was “funding” Cabe because she “required money to process the claim.”

But in May 2014, the Filipino businessman informed the victim that he was having some financial difficulties and so the victim decided to give money to the women.

“(The victim) believed the inheritance money story and started financing (Cabe),” Judge Lam said.

From May 2014 to October 2015, the Australian gave HK$862,370 and US$11,000 to the defendants. They allegedly promised him HK$4 million, and then $6 million later, if they get the “$25 million inheritance” from HSBC.

The Australian later realized that he had fallen victim to a scam and reported the case to the police, who arrested the defendants on Nov. 5, 2015.

Cabe, 45, reportedly used to work with the Bureau of Immigration in Manila. She allegedly perpetrated the scam because she was “pressed for money” to support her family.

Ramo, 40, is a separated from her husband and has four children, aged 12 to 16. She claimed that that she did not know about the scam until two weeks after arriving in Hong Kong. The judge did not believe her.