FDH runs away with gold ring from jewelry store

Shatin

A Filipino domestic worker was formally charged this morning with taking away a gold ring from a jewelry store in Shatin without paying for it.

Roselyn T.G. was charged with one count of theft before Shatin Magistrate Colin Wong Sze-cheung. She pleaded not guilty.

The Filipina said she had to go out of the jewelry shop and forgot to pay for the ring, worth $3,784, because a friend that she was going to meet was calling her on the phone.

“My friend was calling me through Viber. I saw it when I was going to get the money,” Roselyn told the court.

The prosecutor said the incident happened at around 10 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2017 in a jewelry shop at the Shatin Centre Shopping Arcade.

Roselyn said she went to the store that morning to pick up the earrings she had bought through instalment.

Testifying in court, the elderly Chinese businessman who owned the store, said Roselyn came in and saw the gold ring on their display drawer.

“She pointed to the ring and asked how much it cost. I calculated the price using the calculator,” the businessman said.

“She extended her arm. She grabbed the ring and put it in her bag while I was calculating. Then she took out her wallet,” he added.

The businessman said he told the woman that she had not paid for the ring and should give it back but “she ignored me.”

“She pretended to have done something in her wallet. I said, ‘Please take it out’ but she put her wallet in her bag and went away,” the shop owner said.

‘Then I said loudly, ‘That Filipino maid took the ring and went away.’ My elder brother heard that and he chased after her,” he added.

A CCTV footage of the incident showed that Roselyn walked out of the shop and later ran when the shop owner’s elder brother ran after her.

The elder brother told the court that he shouted “Snatching! Catch her! Catch her!” as he ran after the Filipina. Bystanders eventually caught up with the defendant and brought her back to the store.

She offered to pay for the ring but the police were already on their way. During the police investigation, the woman remained silent.

In her defense, Roselyn told the court that he did not understand what the jewelry owner was saying because he spoke in Cantonese.

She said she was about to pay for the ring when her mobile phone started vibrating and so she went outside.

“I was about to get the money but because I wanted to see my friend, I went out,” Roselyn said, adding that she planned to pay for the ring after meeting her friend. She said she had $5,000 with ehr because she just got her salary.

But the prosecutor noted that, instead of answering the phone or calling her friend when she got out of the store, the domestic worker continued walking away before running when she saw the store owner’s elder brother chasing her.

“I did not think about it,” Roselyn said when asked why she did not redial her friend after going out of the store. She said she ran away because she was looking for her friend.

The prosecutor said the Filipino woman should have paid for the ring before putting it inside her bag.

“It’s not a wet market. You are not supposed to come and go casually. You expect the shop owner to wait for you for a day?” he added.

The prosecutor also noted that the phone number of Roselyn supposed friend was not found in her mobile phone.

“After I was taken to the police station, it was deleted. I don’t know how it was deleted,” Roselyn said.

Magistrate Wong is set to hand down his verdict on the case tomorrow (May 25).