Filipina resident charged with failing to renew HKID card on time

 

All HK residents should have a smart ID card by now, unless they were abroad during the call-up

In what could be the first case of its kind, a Filipina resident has been charged with failing to renew her HKID card on time, an offence that is punishable with a $5,000 fine.

The charge is one of four filed against 39-year-old Josefina Araneta Ygot, who appeared in Eastern Court earlier Friday and asked for the hearing of the cases against her adjourned until Jan. 26 next year.

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The three other charges pertain to her alleged selling and possessing more than 1,000 items of fake branded items from her first-floor shop at World-Wide Plaza in Central, and of hiring an overstayer to help sell the goods.

The fourth charge against Ygot reads: “Between July 24, 2022 and Sept. 20, 2023, you being a holder of a HK identity card issued before Nov. 26, 2018, did without reasonable excuse, failed to apply for a new ID card in accordance with Sec. 7 of Registration of Persons Ordinance Cap.177, at such places in such sequence and within such period as the Secretary for Security directed by an order published in the Official Gazette on 4 Apr. 2022 under section 7B (1) of the Registration of Persons Ordinance, Cap. 177.”

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Under subsection 3 of the Ordinance, anyone who “without reasonable excuse” fails to comply with the said order is deemed to have committed an offence and is liable to a fine at level 2, or $5,000.

Exempted from this are those who were not in Hong Kong at the time when they were required to apply or renew their HKID card, provided they apply for the card within 30 days of their return to Hong Kong.

While immigration officials have repeatedly warned residents to renew their HKID cards within the specified period, they have been relatively lax in enforcing the rule.

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Not a few residents have posted on social media that all they were asked when they applied for the HKID renewal was to give an explanation for their lapse. Nobody has reported being called out for their failure to comply with the regulation, much less charged in court, until this.

Under the four-year replacement exercise which formally began in January 2019, residents were called to apply for the new smart ID according to their age group. Those born between 1985 and 1986 were the first to be called for renewal, although some residents like government officials and the police were able to get their new ID cards from Dec. 27, 2018.

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Also from November 26 of that year, all new applicants or those who needed to replace their IDs either because they were lost, destroyed, damaged or defaced, were given the new smart ID card.

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Overstaying Filipina jailed 15 months for selling counterfeit goods

 

The accused was caught selling fake branded items on the ground floor of World-Wide Plaza

A Filipina was sentenced to a total of 15 months earlier today after pleading guilty to four charges, including overstaying her visa, doing illegal work and possessing and openly selling fake branded goods in World-Wide Plaza in Central.

Sandralyn de Leon Bartolome, 34 years old, had been staying in Hong Kong illegally for two years and five-and-a-half months when she was arrested at shop 155 on the first floor of World-Wide Plaza on Sept. 20 this year.

She had unknowingly sold a pair of counterfeit Hermes slippers to an undercover agent from the Customs and Excise Department who paid her with a marked $500 before announcing the arrest, along with another agent.

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Arrested along with her was Josefina Araneta Ygot, 39, who was identified as the shop owner.

A total of 1,085 fake branded goods were found in the shop, including more than 400 pairs of slippers, 119 bags, plus dozens of short pants and wallets, bearing such brands as Hermes, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Fendi, Chanel, Longchamp, Nike and Adidas.

Aside from being charged with Bartolome of selling and possessing the prohibited items, Ygot was also slapped with a charge of employing a person not lawfully employable, and not renewing her HKID card on time.

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She asked through her counsel for her case to be adjourned to Jan. 26 next year for legal advice, to which the prosecution did not object.

Magistrate Ivy Chui granted the application and extended Ygot’s bail of $10,000 until then. She also advised Ygot to go directly to the Duty Lawyer Service office to seek the services of counsel so she will have legal representation at her next hearing.

Bartolome who had been detained since her arrest, pleaded guilty to all the four charges against her.

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Her counsel said she was supposed to remain in Hong Kong only until May 20, 2021 after being terminated from her work as a domestic helper, but she decided to stay. She reportedly survived during that time taking up odd jobs in Central.

According to the lawyer, Bartolome knew that she was not supposed to take up work, especially as she had already overstayed her visa, so there was not much to say by way of mitigation, except for her guilty plea,

For the first charge of selling counterfeit goods Chui imposed a 15-day prison sentence, which would be cut to 10 days given the 1/3 discount the defendant was entitled because of her guilty plea.

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For the second charge of possessing the illicit items and the third of overstaying her visa, Bartolome was meted a discounted sentence of two months in jail.

As for the fourth charge, Chui said this was the most serious, as the court had already imposed sentencing tariffs for illegal work. She used a starting point of 22.5 months, which she then reduced by a third, for a total of 15 months.

As all the sentences are to be served concurrent with each other, Bartolome will have to serve the most severe penalty of 15 months’ imprisonment. 

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MTR says 'free annual pass' offer is fake

 

A copy of the fake 'annual pass' with QR code (from MTRC)

The MTR Corporation has warned of a suspected scam involving offers of free MTR complimentary annual passes, saying the messages being sent out through social media did not come from them.

According to the MTR, it has received reports of messages being sent out to various people on social media, claiming that the company would be sending them free annual passes through the post, and that the recipients should scan a QR code to activate them.

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A copy of the purported offer from MTR says, “Congratulations! You have won an MTR Annual Pass" in both Chinese and English, with a QR code printed on the back of it.

The MTR said that although it has given away about 400 annual passes in two lucky draws recently, it has not asked winners to scan a QR code to activate them, nor were they sent through post.

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In January this year, the MTR gave away 388 annual passes to some lucky app users in in a lucky draw and in July, 26 more annual passes were also given away through lottery in celebration of the 26^th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR.

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The MTR has filed a complaint with the police over the apparent scam, and warned the public that their personal information could be obtained by criminal syndicates if they scanned the QR code on the fake annual passes as instructed.

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The Anti-Deception Coordination Centre has warned the public not to open click or open any unknown hyperlinks and attachments including those found in emails, instant messages, SMS or QR codes.

Anyone who suspects they have been deceived into disclosing their personal details should report to the police immediately. 

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Ex-DH pleads guilty to overstaying, avoids jail

 

 A Filipina who overstayed her visa by a month and a half and sought asylum in Hong Kong, barely avoided being jailed today after she pleaded guilty at Shatin Court to violating the Immigration Ordinance.

Marylene Chavez, 49 years old and former domestic helper, was meted a suspended sentence of six days in jail for breach of condition of stay.

But since Magistrate David Chum suspended the sentence for the next 12 months, Chavez would not see the inside of a prison cell if she does not commit any offense during the period.

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Her duty lawyer said Chavez, who is separated and has three children in the Philippines, had worked in Hong Kong as a domestic helper for nine years before she was terminated because she had become sickly.

She tried to find a new employer but ran out the two weeks allowed her after being terminated.

Having overstayed, she applied for asylum and sought to prevent the Hong Kong government from forcibly sending her home.

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However, she eventually decided to drop her asylum claim and pleaded guilty so she can go home.

This was not what another Filipina, Marina Irene Benamer, 54 years old, chose to do.

Her lawyer asked Magistrate Chum for an adjournment to await the result of her appeal for the High Court to reverse the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (TCAB) that rejected her application for asylum.

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Chum scheduled the next hearing for April 16 next year, and released her on a bail of $500.

Benamer is charged with breach of condition of stay for having overstayed in Hong Kong for almost four years.

She arrived in Hong Kong as a tourist and was allowed to stay until March 15, 2017 but she did not leave as required, until she was arrested on Jan. 5, 2021.

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She has since applied for asylum, but has been rejected by the Immigration Department and then the (TCAB) and is pinning her hopes on the High Court.

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Credit cards, e-wallets can be used at MTR stations from Dec 23

 

The Central MTR station is among those to be outfitted with the new payment mode from Dec 23

Forgot your Octopus card at home, or failed to top it up before trying to get a ride on the MTR?

Fret not, because MTR passengers should be able to pay their fare by tapping their contactless credit or debit cards or mobile e-wallets at the gate from December 23.

But here’s the catch: Only Visa cards can be used initially to enter the MTR gates initially, while other bank cards will be given access by the third quarter of next year.

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For easy identification, the entry and exit gates with the new payment service at all MTR stations will be wrapped in light-blue color, with a signage. Most stations will have two of such gates initially, while those that tourists tend to frequent like Central, Admiralty and Tsim Sha Tsui will have more.

Another point to note is that the new payment system will charge fares based on adult fares, meaning concessionary tickets holders such as the elderly, persons with disabilities and children will not be able to get their usual discount, as well as those eligible for the transport fare subsidy.

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MTRC said the new contactless bank card payment service is primarily aimed at making travel easier for tourists, noting that Visa credit cards have been used for transport payment in many overseas places.

The MTR said it hopes to expand the new service in the third quarter of next year, with more entry and exit gates being opened, and more cards given access.

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Meanwhile, credit card payments for taking the Airport Express is expected to be in place by 2026.

Currently, passengers can buy Airport Express tickets using their credit cards at customer service counters or at ticket machines, but they cannot use them to enter the gates directly. 

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In comparison, passengers on the tram and some selected bus routes are already able to pay their fares using their Visa cards. For those who take the tram, a $1 discount is even offered for those who opt to pay by Visa instead of cash or Octopus.

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Filipina gets stiff penalty for illegal work

 

Immigration offiers escort suspected illegal worker arrested during an operation.

The government today underlined its intent to stop illegal work by imposing a stiff prison sentence on a Filipina asylum seeker who had overstayed her domestic helper visa by three years when she was arrested while working in an Indian restaurant last month.

Ailyna Plasos, 38 years old, pleaded guilty to the charge of taking employment while remaining in Hong Kong in breach of her limit of stay -- a violation of the Immigration Ordinance.

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Magistrate David Chum imposed on her the usual penalty of 16 months in jail.

But instead of giving a one-third discount for the guilty plea, which would be at least five months, Magistrate Chum gave her a discount of just two months, for a final sentence of 14 months.

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He largely ignored her duty lawyer’s appeal for leniency, saying her guilty plea resulted in the court saving time in prosecuting the case because a hearing scheduled for Jan. 5 would no longer be needed.

Plasos was arrested last Nov. 22 in one of the three raids conducted by the Immigration Department in Kwun Tong. Arrested with her in the operations last Nov. 21-23 were four others who were found working in Hung Hom and Kowloon City.

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She was caught serving customers in an Indian restaurant, as well as doing other chores such as accepting payments and cooking.

Her lawyer said that she did not know that as an asylum seeker, she was entitled to an allowance for food and rent from the government and so had to fend for herself, working in odd jobs to avoid getting hungry.

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When she passed by the restaurant and saw a sign that it was hiring, she applied and was accepted, her lawyer said.

Plasos arrived in Hong Kong in 2014 and worked as a domestic helper for six years. When her contract ended in 2020, she failed to find a new employer but stayed on. 

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Migrant workers warned anew against cross-country work

 

Cacdac issuing the warning in a live video posted on DMW's Facebook page

No less than the officer-in-charge of the Department of Migrant Workers has taken to posting a video on Facebook to warn overseas Filipino workers from taking up jobs in countries other than where they were issued an employment visa, or what is more popularly known as cross-country work.

OIC Hans Cacdac made the warning in a live post on the DMW Facebook page yesterday, saying he will soon be issuing a formal directive against the practice of third country hiring.

In particular, he mentioned the cases of OFWs who were issued work visas in Saudi Arabia, but after taking a vacation in the Philippines, pass by Dubai, Arab Emirates where they get off and try their luck finding employment there.

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In many cases, he said the workers end up being distressed, and forced to seek shelter at DMW-run facilities in Dubai. Cacdac said this is why they should not take the risk of going there and try to look for employment while on a tourist or visitor’s visa.

According to the accompanying caption of his video, such practice also poses serious risks for OFWs who “are lured by promises of better employment but often end up as victims of illegal recruitment and human trafficking syndicates.”

But not only Saudi-bound OFWs end up taking their chances in Dubai, where even tourists are able to secure employment visas if they get lucky enough to find employers willing to sign them up. 

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Many OFWs in Hong Kong who are forced to exit the city when their contracts are terminated prematurely choose to go to Dubai instead of back to their hometowns in the Philippines, knowing that they will have to shell out money again and wait for at least six weeks before they could come and work here again.

One of them was MJ, who decided to take the plunge last month after being forced to terminate her contract when her Hong Kong employer wrongly accused her of theft. As she had a sister who was already in Dubai, MJ decided to fly there instead of using the return air ticket paid for by her employer 

MJ was among the lucky few who immediately found work as a caregiver through an agency she was referred to. She said her current employer is kind, and her work mostly involves looking after a young kid.

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As for those who end up getting stuck in the affluent city with no money or work, she said they probably cast their lot with rogue agencies which unfortunately, outnumber those who provide good service now because of the surge in demand.

But Dubai is not the only destination of choice for many OFWs, particularly those who used to work in Hong Kong. Quite a number have moved to places such as Poland, the Netherlands and Finland, attracted by the higher salary and a job upgrade.

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The downside is, they go there at their own risk as they are not covered by any bilateral agreement between the Philippines and their host country, which would protect their rights and ensure they don’t end up being exploited or trafficked.

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