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| Police use this computer graphic to warn domestic workers against money laundering |
Helping a friend in need has led to a Filipina being jailed for 11 months today after she was convicted of money laundering following a trial at West Kowloon Court.
Marivic Millare, 49, was described by her lawyer as a kind-hearted
person who happened to allow IC, an unemployed friend at a boarding house she
was staying in, to use her ATM card to be able to receive a remittance.
The Hang Seng Bank bank account ended up getting a total of $454,918.46
in deposits, all of which were immediately withdrawn, from June 12 to July 19,
2019.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
This resulted in her getting arrested by police in October
2020 and later charged with “dealing with property known or believed to be
proceeds of indictable offense,” a violation of the Organized and Serious
Crimes Ordinance.
Magistrate Tsang Hing-tung said Millare cannot be considered
innocent in the case because only she can allow any transaction in her bank
account, having control of its PIN.
He also noted that after recovering the ATM card from IC, Millare “had no reason to be indiferent” to the big amounts that entered her account, including some $14,000 that came from a love scam and about which a prosecution witness testified during the trial.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
That witness said she met a man online and, over time, was convinced by him to send various amounts through online transfers to various bank accounts, one of which was Millare’s. That online lover disappeared after she had sent “him” some $203,000.
Without the defendant, Magistrate Tsang said, the scammer would
not have succeeded in getting money from his victim, and then disappear without
a trace.
In sentencing Millare, he set a starting point of 12 months
and gave a discount of one month for her good character, as testified to by her
employer of 14 years who provided her cash bail, and the four years it took to resolve
the case which put undue pressure on her.
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