Maid jailed for helping out in resto in World-Wide House

World-Wide House in Central (Photo by By Ohconfucius ) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons .

A domestic helper who has been working in Hong Kong for 14 years now has been sentenced to nine weeks in prison after she was found guilty of performing odd jobs in a Filipino restaurant in Central.

Another defendant, a Filipino male who also used to work as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, was acquitted of the same charge.

Shatin Court Deputy Magistrate Lam Tsz-kan on June 6 said the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that S.V. Magsano breached her condition of stay in Hong Kong by taking up employment in a restaurant at the World Wide House.

Magsano, and the other defendant, Dionne S.B., were intercepted by Immigration officers on Feb. 19, after they were allegedly seen putting lunchboxes in a plastic bag and passing them on to customers.

The prosecution said Magsano violated the conditions of her stay in Hong Kong by taking the job, while Dionne should not be helping out because a removal order has been issued against him.

The prosecution also said the defendants were seen taking money from customers and putting the cash in a bucket.

Giving his evidence, however, Dionne said he was in the restaurant because he was hungry and he wanted to eat Filipino food.

“When I was about to leave the restaurant…one lady asked me ‘kuya, please hand me my lunch.’

“When I handed it to the lady, and I was about to go out again, there was a crowd, and then a lady and a man said to me ‘ID, ID, ID’,” Dionne said through a court interpreter.

Asked why he helped in handing the lunch boxes to the customers, the defendant said the restaurant’s exit was becoming crowded and he could not get out.

He added that he handed three pieces of lunchboxes to three customers.

“I left, but they (Immigration officers) approached me,” Dionne said.

He also said he never helped packed the food that were handed to the customers.

Magsano, meanwhile, told the court she arrived at the restaurant at around 10:30 a.m., and then ordered her food.

She said that until 11:45 a.m., when Immigration officers arrived in the restaurant, she had yet to receive her food.

Magsano initially said there were other people waiting for their food, but later on said there was no queue.

She said she forgot about her food because some of her friends came and they began chatting.

At 11:45 a.m., Immigration officers came to the restaurant and asked for her ID.

“I was startled, and nervous, and it was the first time that that happened to me,” said Magsano when asked by the duty lawyer why she initially told the Immigration officer that she was in the restaurant to help.

The Immigration officer then told her she would be taken to the agency’s office for investigation.

She added that she only handed the food to a lady, who came to the restaurant later than her.

In deciding the verdict on the case, Judge Lam ruled that Dionne was a credible witness, but noted inconsistencies in Magsano’s evidence.