Filipino woman gets 13 months jail sentence for HK$198K jewellery theft case

A former overseas Filipino worker (OFW), named in court as Balay Ya Nelsa K., was sentenced to 13-months imprisonment by Acting Principal Magistrate Mr. Colin Wong Sze-Cheung. The case was heard last Thursday, 26 January, at Fanling Magistrate Courts.

The former OFW was presented at the court’s dock when her case was called by the staff of the court.
From the court document of summary of the charges, Balay Ya allegedly took six jewelries from a local old local lady where she worked as a part-time helper. The old local lady was living in a 450-square-feet flat with a CCTV.  The footages in the CCTV were used as evidence by the Police against Balay Ya.

The court further said that the jewelries – ring, necklaces, and bracelets, with a total value of more than HK$198,000 were pawned by Balay Ya. She pawned the stolen jewelries at Yuen Long and Central pawnshops for a total of HK$65,000.

The defense lawyer of Balay Ya said that her client admitted for the offense charged against her, and pleaded guilty.
Balay Ya also expressed remorse of her wrong doing and cooperated with the police during the investigation.  The counsel further explained that Balay Ya has three children in the Philippines and her mother had a Kidney problem and the money she took from the pawned jewelries were used for her mother’s medication.

Acting Principal Magistrate Mr. Wong said that the case against Balay Ya  was a serious case where a breach of trust was committed from her former employer. Aside from this, the items she stole from her employer were of high value costing a total of more than HK$198,000 of jewelries which she pawned and got money for her personal use.

Mr. Wong said that as Balay Ya pleaded guilty and after hearing the defense lawyer’s explanation, he sentenced the former OFW of 13 months of imprisonment.