The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a live-in domestic helper from the Philippines last Thursday for stealing gold jewellery and cash worth over 260,000 patacas from two employers, PJ spokesman Lei Chi Hou said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Lei identified the suspect as a 42-year-old female surnamed Castro.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police (PJ) received a referral last Thursday from the Public Security Police (PSP) about a theft at a flat in the Lam Mau Tong (林茂塘) area.
Lei noted that an elderly local man reported to the police that he had kept multiple items of gold jewellery and a number of banknotes in several locked drawers in his flat. Since February, he had employed Castro as a live-in domestic helper. Last Thursday, he discovered that both the cash and jewellery had vanished, after which he reported a total loss of 120,100 patacas, including 14 items of jewellery valued at 100,000 patacas, along with various currencies, including Hong Kong dollars, yuan, patacas, and euros, worth 20,100 patacas in total, to the police.
The police arrested Castro at her employer’s flat and recovered some of the stolen items and cash from her room, including two items of jewellery, banknotes in various currencies, and multiple pawn tickets.
The police discovered that some of the pawned items did not belong to the victim. They later confirmed that these items were the property of a middle-aged local woman who had employed Castro from 2021 until January 2025. The police informed her last Friday, and after a thorough check of her belongings, she realised that several items were indeed missing. She reported the loss of several gold coins valued at 115,000 patacas and two diamond jewellery items valued at 28,000 patacas.
Lei said that Castro had pawned the stolen items at various hock shops and spent all the money on daily expenses. Lei added that the police have retrieved 12 items of jewellery from four different pawn shops.
Castro has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of theft and fraud.
This undated handout photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) shows the stolen items seized from Castro and retrieved from local pawn shops.
