In 2019, Maria Teresa Owerta’s father got sick and needed money to pay the hospital. She said she borrowed $1,500 from a fellow Filipina and left her ATM card as guarantee. Since then, she has not been able to contact the woman to repay her debt and reclaim her card.
Today, Owerta, a 41-year-old domestic helper, is in jail for
money laundering because $1.68 million – some of which came from two online love
scams -- passed through her Hang Seng Bank account, which she opened in
February 2015.
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| DITO ANG DETALYE |
According to the charge read to her and translated to
Filipino by a court interpreter, unidentified people used her ATM card from
Dec. 22, 2020 to April 21, 2021 to deposit and withdraw $1,684,886.40 in
various amounts.
An investigation of two online love scams at that time led police to Owerta’s bank account.
She was arrested on July 21, 2023.
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| TAWAG NA! |
Owerta was sentenced to nine months’ jail after she pleaded guilty at Kwun Tong Court yesterday (Jan. 12) to “conspiracy to deal with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offense.”
The
sentence, which started at 13.5 months in jail, was the result of a one-third discount
for Owerta’s guilty plea.
Acting Principal Magistrate Winnie Lau said that aside from the guilty plea, “I find no other mitigating factors.”
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| PINDUTIN |
The lawyer added that she cooperated with the police who
investigated the case and promised not to reoffend.
But Magistrate Lau said, “This is a very serious offense. In
view of the big amount involved, we need to set a punishment that will serve as
a deterrence.”
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| PADALA NA! |
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