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| Case is being heard at Eastern Court |
A Filipina admitted today at Eastern Court that she obtained a $20,000 loan using an expired employment contract, but stressed that she had paid it off, except for one installment.
The revelation by Mariel Antenor, aged 32 years, came after
Principal Magistrate Don So asked her to clarify if she only paid for one month
and did not pay the rest, as she was accused of obtaining a pecuniary advantage
by deception, in violation of the Theft Ordinance.
The contradiction prompted Magistrate So to order a
background report to check how many installments she paid, and postponed her sentencing
to July 30.
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| TAWAG NA! |
The case arose after Antenor allegedly presented an invalid
work contract to Prime Credit’s office at Eurotrade Center Bldg. in Central on
Sept. 14, 2022, to meet one of the requirements for a loan.
After the $20,000 loan was approved, the financing company
said it later found out that the work contract was no longer valid when Antenor
applied for it.
In a hearing last June 18, the prosecution said the
defendant was arrested when she went to the Immigration Department to renew her
employment contract which was set to expire on April 27 this year. This
suggested she had used an old contract to obtain the loan.
The defence lawyer said Antenor did not know that it was an
offence to use an expired work contract to apply for a loan. Apart from this, he said, she had already repaid much of what she borrowed.
Under sec 18 of the Theft Ordinance the act is punishable by
up to 10 years in jail.
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