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| The thefts happened in 2 separate flats in this residential building |
Two Filipina domestic helpers who lived next to each other in a residential building in Kowloon City were yesterday both sentenced to 40 months in jail for stealing luxury watches and other jewelry pieces from their respective employers, worth a total of $3,052,000.
Bernadette
M. Paranas, 40 years old and Gina M. Quinones, 36, both pleaded guilty to one
count of conspiracy to steal when they appeared before Deputy District Judge
Timothy Casewell in Tsuen Wan Court.
They
admitted conspiring to steal the bulk of the loot from Paranas’ male employer,
including a Louis Vuitton storage box containing 17 watches bearing such brands
as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Cartier. They also stole one pendant, 10
wrist chains, one bracelet and one briefcase, with the haul estimated to
be worth $2.7 million in total.
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| TAWAG NA! |
In
addition, Paranas admitted stealing her female employer’s gold commemorative
ring, while Quinones pleaded guilty to stealing a watch and a ring from her
female employer, and another watch from her male employer.
Most
of the items were stolen by Paranas and pawned by Quinones. Only a few of them
were recovered.
The
thefts were committed between May 1, 2021 and December 1, 2022, in the houses
of their respective employers on the 4th floor of Sheung Shing Court
in Kowloon City.
They
were discovered only after Paranas’ employers noticed that the LV box containing
the watches had gone missing.
The
two Filipinas had been detained since their arrest.
Judge
Casewell used five years’imprisonment as a starting point for the sentencing
and after reducing it by one-third for their guilty plea, arrived at the final
sentence of 40 months for each defendant.
The
maximum sentence for theft is 10 years’ imprisonment.
In
the first charge of conspiracy to steal, Quinones’ lawyer had tried to argue
that she was not guilty of a breach of trust as the victim was not her employer,
but Judge Casewell disregarded the argument, saying the aggravating factor should apply to both.
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