Two Filipinas found guilty after trial of money laundering

 

Police show items they seized after cracking a money-laundering case (File)

If you give up control over your bank account, including your ATM (automated teller machine) card, you are deemed to have given consent to the other person to use them for whatever purpose, including committing a crime, in particular, money laundering.

This was the explanation given by Eastern Magistrate Jeffrey Sze after he found two Filipina domestic helpers guilty after trial of the crime of “dealing with property known or believed to be proceeds of an indictable offence” or more commonly known as money laundering.

Leonida C. Manlunas, 40 years old and Nora A. Reymundo, 47, were immediately put behind bars pending their sentencing on June 14.

PINDUTIN DITO

According to Magistrate Sze, the test of whether an accused knew or had reason to believe that he or she is dealing with proceeds of a crime is objective, not subjective, meaning it is what any reasonable person would conclude given the facts.

In the cases of Manlunas and Reymundo, they should have known that the bank accounts they opened at HSBC in their names, then let other people operate, would be used for illegal purposes, said Sze.

He called the statements given by both defendants inconsistent and unreliable, in contrast to those made by the prosecution witnesses.

TAWAG NA!

In addition, the defendants must have known that opening a bank account for another person to use was at best suspicious, said the judge, noting that both women received monetary compensation for their effort.

Manlunas dealt with a total of $387,000 which was laundered through an HSBC account in her name between Dec. 18, 2020 and Jan. 8, 2021. She received $1,600 from her aunt Josephine for opening the account.

Reymundo, on the other hand, laundered total of $903,000 which passed through her account with HSBC between Feb 10, 2021 and Mar 4, 2021. She was paid $500 when she surrendered the ATM card to a man in Central who met up with her on the day she opened the account.

All the money that was deposited into their respective bank accounts were said to be proceeds of a love scam perpetrated on a local elderly woman.

Both women were put under trial from Mar 11 to 13 at Eastern Court after each denied a charge of money laundering.

Manlunas said in her defence that she opened the account at the request of her aunt Josephine, who said a friend called Selina needed it to transfer some money.

After opening the account, Manlunas received text messages from HSBC warning her each time a transaction over the $50,000 threshold was made into it, but she said she did not understand what they were about.  

However, she did not call the bank’s hotline for clarification. Eventually, her account was closed by HSBC.

Magistrate Sze said he found it “extremely unreasonable” that Manlunas did not try to inquire about the messages, or regain control of her account despite the bank’s repeated notification.

In Reymundo’s case, she said she opened her HSBC account after being repeatedly asked by a younger cousin, Angelita Antonio, who said her friend’s boyfriend needed it to receive money from abroad. This said friend, Ronilda or Dang Sumili, allegedly could not open an account in her name as her employer was working with HSBC.

Despite having an existing account with Hang Seng Bank, Reymundo agreed to open another one at HSBC’s branch in Central. As soon as she received the ATM card for the account, she immediately handed it over to Dang’s boyfriend called Chad who gave her $500, even when she was supposed to get $2,000 for doing the bidding.

Reymundo was arrested on Jun 17, 2021, along with Angelita and Dang, who, however, managed to flee the city while out on bail.

In his reasons for judgment, Sze asked why Reymundo had to open a new account with HSBC when she already had an existing one with Hang Seng. He also pointed out that the defendant readily surrendered control over her bank account to someone she met only for the first time.

The magistrate said a bank account is a valuable personal property that should not be controlled by another person. Also, domestic workers who barely earn $5,000 a month should be alarmed when they see their accounts being used for large cash transactions.

While there is no direct evidence that either defendant dealt directly with the illicit money that passed through their accounts, they should be held accountable because as owners of the accounts they were deemed to have direct control over them, said the court.

In mitigation, the defense lawyer said both defendants were not highly educated, having only completed high school, so they did not know how to easily check the transactions made in their respective accounts.

They were remorseful but chose to plead not guilty because they had a reasonable ground to believe they were innocent as they were not directly involved in the illegal use of their bank accounts.

In addition, Manlunas is said to be supporting both her elderly parents, two teenage children, and the 20-year-old daughter of a brother who just passed away.

Reymundo is also supporting her 78-year-old mother and four children, three of them adults, but the youngest who is just 14 years old, is still at school. She also has three grandchildren to help look after.

Several mitigation letters were submitted to court in their behalf, including one from  the employers of Manlunas, who supported her throughout her ordeal.

The lawyer asked for a lenient sentence, saying that while imprisonment is inevitable in their case, there was little or no chance of them reoffending as they will be deported to the Philippines right after serving their sentence.

Money laundering is a serious offence in Hong Kong, for which the prescribed maximum penalty is 14 years in jail and fine of up to $5 million. However, the maximum sentence that a magistracy can normally impose is two years’ imprisonment and a fine of $100,000.

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