A 71-year-old Filipina domestic worker has managed to avoid jail time after being found guilty of submitting a fake employment contract to obtain an employment visa. The case was heard at Shatin Court, where Acting Principal Magistrate Amy Chan considered the defendant's clean record of 40 years of service and contributions to Hong Kong society.
Virginia Jovilla's lawyer appealed for a lenient sentence, pointing out her long history of dedicated service to multiple families. In light of this, Magistrate Chan decided on a starting point of six months in prison for each of the two charges. However, the sentence was reduced to four months after deducting a one-third discount due to Jovilla's guilty plea.
In an unexpected turn, Magistrate Chan ordered that the two jail terms run concurrently and suspended them for three years. This means that Jovilla will not be imprisoned immediately but will have to serve the three-month sentence if she commits any further offenses within the next three years.
The prosecution assured the court that upon conviction, Jovilla would be deported. The charges against her stemmed from her presentation of two fake employment contracts to the Immigration Department when applying for her working visa. She had sought the assistance of agents Liu Chung Hang and Kathleen Emily Vizcarra in this fraudulent scheme.
The first fake contract, processed between January 2022 and March 4, 2022, involved a certain Kung Yue Che. This contract induced the Immigration Director and his officers to act against their public duty and grant the visa under false pretenses. The second fake contract, processed between March 2022 and January 31, 2023, involved a certain Lee Wai Kong and resulted in the issuance of another visa.
Jovilla's lawyer argued that her actions were out of character. Her previous legitimate employer had let her go after a decade of service because they were leaving Hong Kong. Given her age and the difficulty of finding suitable employment, Jovilla resorted to submitting fake contracts to remain in Hong Kong and support her four older siblings in the Philippines, all of whom had health problems.
Despite the lenient sentence, Jovilla was warned that any reoffending within the next three years would result in the enforcement of the suspended sentence.
71歲菲律賓女工因提交假工作合約以獲取簽證而避免入獄
一名71歲的菲律賓籍家務工人在被判有罪提交假工作合約以獲取就業簽證後，成功避免入獄。此案在沙田法院審理，代理首席裁判官陳麗儀考慮到被告在服務多個家庭期間無不良紀錄以及對香港社會的貢獻。
維珍尼亞·喬維拉的律師為她請求較輕的刑罰，指出她長時間以來對多個家庭的忠誠服務。在此背景下，陳麗儀裁定每項指控的初始刑期為六個月，但由於喬維拉認罪，刑期減為四個月。
出人意料的是，陳麗儀裁定兩項刑期同時進行，並將其暫緩三年。這意味著喬維拉不會立即入獄，但如果她在接下來的三年內再次犯罪，她將不得不執行三個月的刑期。
檢察官向法庭保證，喬維拉在被判有罪後將被遣送出境。對她的指控源於她在申請工作簽證時向入境事務處提交了兩份假工作合約。她在此欺詐計劃中尋求劉忠恒和凱瑟琳·艾米莉·維茲卡拉的幫助。
第一份假合約的處理時間為2022年1月至2022年3月4日，涉及到某位龔悅澈。這份合約誘使入境事務處處長及其官員違背公務，根據虛假前提發放簽證。第二份假合約的處理時間為2022年3月至2023年1月31日，涉及到某位李偉江，並導致另一張簽證的發放。
喬維拉的律師辯稱她的行為不符合她的本性。由於年齡大和難以找到合適的工作，喬維拉不得不提交假合約以留在香港並支持她在菲律賓的四位年長兄弟姐妹，他們都有健康問題。
儘管判刑輕微，但喬維拉被告知在接下來的三年內如再犯罪，將執行暫緩的判決。
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