A Filipina domestic helper got a four-month jail term for stealing a Rolex Watch from her former Chinese employer in Hong Kong, The Sun of Hong Kong reported.
Liezel Lacuarta was charged for one count of theft for stealing the Rolex watch and pawning it for $50,000 in February.
The 49-year old maid pleaded guilty and sought for leniency saying she was forced to steal to pay off her $47,000 debt.
HK’s Eastern Court handed the sentence on March 21.
Magistrate Peter Law said he could not further reduce the jail sentence because the case is a “break of trust case and the value stolen is not small.”
The Rolex watch she took was valued at $79,895.
Hong Kong police discovered the theft when they conducted a routine check of pawnshop reports. The officers noticed something was amiss when a domestic helper pawned the Rolex watch for $50,000.
Lacuarta’s former employer thought his watch was only misplaced. But when asked by the police, he said Lacuarta was their maid until 2016 and stopped hiring her because his children have gone overseas for schooling. He said still gave Lacuarta his key to his flat to be able to “access his flat freely.”
