Pinay jailed 30 days for $21k theft in employer’s house

By Vir B. Lumicao

Malana admitted the theft in Eastern Court 

A Filipina domestic worker who had been working for less than two months for her employer has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for stealing the personal belongings of the employer’s niece worth more than $20,000.

Maricris Malana, 30, pleaded guilty to theft before Eastern Court Magistrate Peter Chun on Feb 12.

Malana was accused of stealing in the house of her employer Winnie Yung Wai-yee in Green Lane, Happy Valley, various items worth a total of $21,600. The items belonged to Yung’s niece, Christy Cheung Hiu-ching.

The prosecution said the thefts took place between Sept 4 and Oct 26 last year, while Malana was working for Yung.

A prosecution report said the stolen items included a Hermes wallet worth $20,000, a silver necklace that cost $500, a silver ring valued at $300, a YSL lipstick worth $300 and a pair of Zara boots valued at $500.

All the stolen items had been recovered because the defendant kept them in her drawer instead of disposing of them immediately, the prosecution said.

Cheung, who was staying with Yung, reportedly noticed that some of her personal property were missing but took no heed.

But on Oct 26, Yung found all the missing items in a drawer in the maid’s room. Cheung confirmed they were her property.

Yung recorded the theft to police and Malana was arrested. 

Magistrate Chun said Malana, who has a son in the Philippines, came to Hong Kong in 2017 and worked for another employer before she started working for Yung on Sept 4, 2017.

The defendant, a Hotel and Restaurant Management graduate, had a clear record.

The judge said Malana’s offense was a serious breach of trust, considering that she committed it inside her employer’s flat.

But because she pleaded guilty and the stolen items were recovered, Chun said he was sentencing the helper to 30 days in jail, instead of the 40 days that he had in mind.

Malana was accompanied to Eastern Court by an officer of the Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge and about half a dozen of her fellow wards at the shelter run by the Mission for Migrant Workers.

The prosecution said Cheung, who was staying with Yung, noticed that some of her personal property were missing but took no heed.

But on Oct 26, Yung found the wallet, silver necklace and ring, lipstick and pair of boots in the drawer in the maid’s room. Cheung confirmed they were her property.

Yung recorded the theft to police and Malana was arrested.