 |
| More than $1.4 M passed through the Filipinas' HSBC accounts |
Three Filipina domestic helpers who were convicted after trial of money laundering after allowing unknown people to take control of their bank accounts, were sentenced to between nine and 12 months as they sobbed today at Eastern Court.
A
local woman working in a restaurant was meted the longest prison sentence of 13
months as her case involved an international element. According to Magistrate
Minnie Wat, first defendant Wong Siu-kuen, 53, did not deny sending her ATM
card to Malaysia where the illicit transactins were made in her name.
The
lightest penalty of nine months’ imprisonment was imposed on Marife A. Dionson,
43, whose account was used to launder a total of $358,300 within one day, which
the magistrate said was a “relatively short period of time.” The transactions
were made between July 8 and July 9, 2020.
 |
| Pindutin para sa detalye |
The
two other Filipina defendants, Geraldine G. Tolentino, 38, and Ires S.
Caliwanagan, 40, were both meted the standard 12 months imprisonment for money
laundering defendants who are found guilty after trial.
Tolentino’s
bank account was made the repository of a total of $566,438 within five days,
or between July 15 and July 20, 2020, while Caliwanagan’s account held a total
of $714,406 between July 10 and July 23, 2020.
In
sentencing, Magistrate Wat said a custodial sentence is inevitable for those
who commit money laundering, which she described as a serious offence. She
disregarded pleas for a lighter sentence based on the defendants’ personal and
family circumstances.
 |
| Basahin ang detalye! |
But
she said she considered the international element in Wong’s case an aggravating
factor, hence, the additional one month imposed on top of the standard 12
months’ imprisonment for those convicted after trial.
In
Dionson’s case, her lawyer said she suffered a mild stroke after being arrested
in 2020. She was described as naïve, and although she initially rejected the
charge, she was now aware of the serious consequences of her actions, and was
regretful.
Tolentino,
on the other hand, was described by her mother to a probation officer who
contacted her as “simple-minded and hardworking” and sent a big chunk of her
salary to her family back in the Philippines. She was fully supported by her
employer during her trial.
Caliwanagan
was described by her lawyer as a single
mother with an 11-year-old son, who has been under tremendous stress because of the case, and is
anxious to continue working in Hong Kong, but now realizes this will not happen
because of her conviction.
Magistrate
Wat said that in sentencing, she was mindful that all the defendants had a
clear record and there was no evidence to suggest that they were the ones behind
the illegal transfer of funds into their bank accounts.
She
also said that even if the offences were committed in 2020, they did not come to
light until the first prosecution witness in the case went to the police in
2021 to complain about losing $1.85 million in a love scam. Part of the money
she lost was traced to the defendants’ bank accounts.
Prosecution
began only in 2022, as it took the police some time to investigate, given the
number of people found to be involved in laundering the money taken from the
victim.
“This
is not a particularly long time for the case to be brought to court,” said the
magistrate.
In
the admitted facts of the case that were read out in court, the total amount of
money that went in and out of the four defendants’ money was more than $2.4
million, and the transactions took no more than three months.
About
10 other Filipinos were named as recipients of the $1.85 million that the love
scam victim transferred to local banks, but they apparently escaped detection
by the police.
But
there was at least one other Filipina who was initially charged with the four,
but she pleaded guilty when she appeared in court in October last year. She was
sentenced to eight months in jail.
Before their conviction, the four defendants were allowed to post bail – $2,000 for Wong and $1,000 for each of the three Filipinas.
.jpg) |
| PRESS FOR DETAILS |
