By Vir B. Lumicao
A Filipina former helper was jailed for four months by a
Kowloon Court magistrate on Aug 26 after she admitted using a terminated
work contract to secure a loan of $35,700 from Prime Credit in Hong Kong, then
left for the Philippines.
 |
Magistrate rejected plea for clemency,
pointing out to Buena Cosa's use of fraud |
Ranie Lou Buena Cosa, 31, was arrested at
Hong Kong International
Airport on Jul 26 when
she arrived as a tourist to visit a sister who is working here.
She did not know that she was on Immigration’s wanted list
for having fled Hong Kong after taking out the
loan.
In court, she pleaded guilty to a charge of “obtaining
pecuniary advantage by deception.”
Magistrate Ada Yim rejected her lawyer’s plea for leniency,
saying the offense was serious because Buena Cosa had fraudulently used an
invalid contract, then fled after collecting the loan.
Buena Cosa was found to have taken out the loan from Prime
Credit’s branch in Carnarvon
Plaza, Tsimshatsui, on
Apr 23 this year, 10 days after she was terminated by her employer.
Her counsel said Buena Cosa came to work as a domestic
helper in Hong Kong on Mar 23, 2018 but was
fired more than a year later, on Apr 13 this year.
After failing to find a new employer and needing money
badly, she went to the financing company to take out a loan using her contract.
The lawyer appealed for leniency, saying the defendant was
remorseful and admitted the crime at the first instance.
Buena Cosa had been in police custody since her arrest.
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