A 75-year-old Filipino woman was arrested in Hong Kong after she attempted to encash a fake check worth US$50 million (P2.48 billion) at a bank there.
The woman, with initials MIG, arrived in the city as a tourist, went to the headquarters of Hang Seng Bank along Des Voeux Road in Central business district on December 9. With her was a bank check purportedly signed by top Hang Seng officials, but was later found to be fake. She was arrested in the bank premises. Her companion, a local Hong Kong accountant, was also arrested but was later released on bail.
Before Eastern Magistrates Courts, MIG, who claims to head a charity organization, was charged with “using a false instrument” which carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison.
The Filipina’s camp offered a surety amount of HK$50,000 on top of a HK$100,000 bail bond for her temporary freedom on which she promised not to leave Hong Kong. However, the bail petition was denied by the judge due to the large amount of money involved in the case filed against her.
The defendant’s lawyer said she was maintaining her right to appear in court again after eight days to file another bail petition. Judge Wan noted that he would again be the presiding judge at the next hearing.
With her bail petition denied, the defendant was remanded in police custody and spent Christmas in prison.