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| The 3 Filipinas are accused of using their HSBC accounts to launder money |
Three Filipina domestic helpers will go on trial over four days in April after pleading not guilty to a charge each of dealing with property known or believed to be proceeds of indictable offence – otherwise known as money laundering – at Eastern Court.
Marife A. Dionson, 43; Geraldine G. Tolentino, 38;
and Ires S. Caliwanagan, 40, appeared in court yesterday with a fourth defendant,
Chinese waitress Wong Siu-kuen, 53, who also denied the charge.
Each of the defendants is accused of having
laundered money amounting to between $350,000 to nearly $800,000 in their respective
bank accounts from June to August, 2020.
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| TAWAG NA! |
Wong, referred to as the first defendant or D1, is
charged with laundering a total of $776,460 in her Hang Seng account between June
15 and Aug 20, 2020.
Dionson, identified as D2, is accused of laundering $358,000
in her HSBC account in just one day, from Jul 8-9, 2020.
Tolentino, called D3, allegedly conspired with
somebody named ‘Wai’ in laundering a total of $566,438 in an HSBC account under
her name, between Jul 15 and 20, 2020.
Caliwanagan, who is D4, faces a charge of laundering through her HSBC account a total of $714,406 between Jul 10 and 23 in 2020.
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| PINDUTIN |
All have maintained their innocence, and will stand
trial on Apr 10, 11, 12 and 15 of this year.
Magistrate Ivy Chui who expressed impatience over
the delay in the trial, expressly told all defendants to go straight to the
Duty Lawyer Service after renewing their bail to ensure they are legally
represented in their next court appearance.
Wong is on bail for $2,000 while her three
co-defendants are out on $1,000 bail each.
In reply to the magistrate’s question about why they
needed five months to get ready for the trial, the prosecution said the delay
was due to the difficulty in obtaining English transcripts of the statements
made by the defendants – one in Chinese, two in Tagalog and one in Visaya.
The prosecution is also said to be consulting with a
money laundering expert on the case.
Chui told both sides to be ready with the agreed
statement of facts no later than two days before the trial.
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| PADALA NA! |
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