A Filipino domestic worker in Hong Kong admitted to stealing HK$42,000 (P254,626) worth of jewelry from her employer so she could pay off her debt.
Elisa C. Saco, 31, confessed in court to stealing the valuables from her employer’s flat in North Point in August and pawning them in separate pawnshops, according to Hongkong News.
“I plead guilty,” Saco told Eastern Magistrate So Wai-Tak on the morning of October 19.
The judge sentenced Saco to two months in prison for violating her employer’s trust in her.
“You came to Hong Kong to work as a domestic helper but you stole from your employer. This is a typical breach of trust case,” Magistrate So said.
Saco arrived in Hong Kong in 2010 to work as domestic helper together with two other Filipinas to look after their employer’s mother in North Point.
But her employer’s mother died in February, and her belongings were left inside the bedroom’s locked drawer. The key was placed under a pillow on her bed.
On October 14, Saco’s employer checked the drawer and discovered some of the valuables — a gold necklace with jade pendant (worth $40,000) and a gold bracelet ($2,000) — missing. With the lock not forcibly opened, the employer reported the case to the police who made checks at pawnshops and found that Saco had pawned the two pieces of jewelry at two different pawnshops in North Point.
They then arrested the Filipino helper, who admitted during the police interrogation that she stole the two pieces of jewelry in August.
The prosecution said the money was obtained to repay Saco’s debt. The two other domestic helpers working with her denied any knowledge of the incident. Saco was then terminated from her job and was formally charged with theft.
“She is extremely remorseful. She was fired by her employer and she has learned a hard lesson,” Saco’s lawyer told the court. The lawyer added that Saco was financially supporting her 25-year-old sister and 53-year-old father back in the Philippines.