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| This fish-hitting game is popular among illegal gamblers in HK (The New Paper photo) |
Five Filipinos were among 13 people fined in Eastern Court
The Filipinos who pleaded guilty in the first case were
former bartender Ray Onate Jr., 31; asylum seeker Jennifer Baguio, 44;
housewife Carolina Fung, 48; and unemployed resident Liza Lancian, 43.
Their co-defendants who also pleaded guilty were local
residents Chow Kai-ming, 38; Cheung Chun-yuen, 34; Liu Yan-sau, 58, and Thai
male boxing coaches Amnat Bhupasiri, 23, and Nantawut Teeravit, 36.
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Indian female Sarosh Qazi, 33, pleaded guilty to “managing a
gambling establishment” in both cases, but Magistrate Stephanie Chui set aside
her plea in the second case and ordered a trial after she disagreed with the
facts.
The prosecution charged that at 7:05 am on Apr 2, special
duty squad officers from the Wanchai District Police Station mounted an
anti-gambling operation at a residential flat on 1/F, 47 Sharp St. East Causeway Bay
The officers saw the 10 defendants inside. Investigation
revealed that Sarosh kept the gambling den while the nine others were gamblers.
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Police seized two fish-hitting machines, one bird-hitting machine, two slot machines, 10 chairs, and playing cards. Sarosh and the 9 players were arrested, the prosecution said. They readily pleaded guilty at the hearing.
Magistrate Chui imposed fines of $3,500 on Qazi, $1,000 on
Chow and $750 on Cheung, depending on the number of their previous similar
convictions.
Onate was fined $300,
while Baguio
On May 31, just over a month since the first operation,
police again raided the same flat managed by Sarosh, and found four people
gambling inside, including Filipina Cecilia Tejam, 51.
The officers again arrested Sarosh, as well as Tejam and male
local residents Fan Sui-wing, 30; Raymond Chan Ka-chuen, 31, and Lam Chi-kuen,
32.
Of the four alleged gamblers, Tejam, Fan and Lam pleaded
guilty while Chan said he was not guilty. Tejam was fined $800 and Fan $2,000. Lam,
with five previous convictions, was slapped a $4,500 penalty.
Sarosh and Chan will stand trial in the same court on July
28. Sarosh for managing the illegal establishment, and Chan for illegal
gambling.
