The SUN HK : Search for ex-DH expanded after she missed court hearing

06 December 2023

Vargas took a photo of her passport awhile back, after she overstayed her visa

(Update) The search for a missing former domestic helper expanded today after she failed to show up for a scheduled hearing at Eastern Court where she is charged with overstaying.

Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui issued an arrest warrant for Kris Hope Vargas, 32 years old, thus harnessing the police in the search, after her own duty lawyer said she did not attend their meeting before the hearing.

Consulate officials said they have been in touch with Vargas' family, and will also be contacting the police for help in finding Vargas, who was last seen wandering near K11 Musea in Tsim Sha Tsui, holding a mobile phone and looking dazed and dishevelled.

Vargas’ family said they were shown the photo on Nov. 27, but it has since been taken down by the netizen who posted it along with an appeal for help, saying she she was concerned about the Filipina's mental well-being.

DETALYE

Her family contacted the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in the Philippines to seek help for her immediate repatriation but were told yesterday that they were still trying to get more information. The recruitment agency that placed her in Hong Kong said it had lost touch with her in 2019.

Vargas' latest photo showed her looking lost and dishevelled

Vargas was previously jailed for six months for money laundering and had been in and out of court since two years ago as she faced another charge of overstaying her visa.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The charge said she should have remained in Hong Kong only until Mar 10, 2020, after her FDH visa was terminated.

She was arrested outside Chung King Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui on Nov. 10, 2020 and charged with money laundering and overstaying. She was jailed on June 7, 2021 on the laundering charge but the prosecution asked for more time to look into her alleged breach of condition of stay.

Subsequently, she filed a non-refoulement claim, or against being sent back home, which allowed her to be freed on bail while her immigration case was being heard, along with the overstaying charge.

Pindutin para sa detalye

But through several months of hearing at Eastern Court, Vargas jumped bail at least twice, prompting the magistrate to forfeit her bail, and order her arrest. This happened in November 2021 and again on Apr 26, 2022.

Anybody with information about her whereabouts and how she can be helped may contact the OWWA hotline, 6345 9324.