5 Pinoys sentenced 3 to 4 years for diamond theft

HONG KONG – Five Filipinos were sentenced here yesterday to three to four years in prison for stealing a diamond worth more than P1.4 million.

Gerardo Padilla, Catherine Pua, Evelyn Borres and Federico Reyes have pleaded guilty to stealing a diamond worth HK$251,682 (P1.39 million) in the jewelry fair last November.

Antonio Pineda, however, denied any part in the theft perpetrated by his four companions and went on trial.

Deputy District Judge Anthony Yuen imposed a three-year sentence as starting point against the five Filipino tourists. Yuen gave a one-third discount to the four accused who earlier pleaded guilty to the theft charge. He, however, added another year of jail sentence after ruling that the theft was an organized crime.

Padilla and Pua were sentenced to three years in prison.

Borres and Reyes were also charged with breach of deportation order and making false representation to an immigration officer. They were sentenced to three years and eight months, and three years and four months imprisonment, respectively.

Pineda was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

“This is a serious case of theft with an international element. I am satisfied that this falls within the meaning of organized crime,” the judge said.

During Pineda’s trial, CCTV footage of the jewelry fair last Nov. 25, 2010 was shown. In three different angles, Padilla was caught stealing a diamond inside the display cabinet of a Japan-based exhibitor while Pineda stood in front of him.

The three other Filipinos were seen walking near the display booth and making inquiries with the exhibitors.

In his testimony, Pineda insisted that he did not know the four Filipinos and only went with them to the jewelry fair by coincidence.

He claimed that he was actually looking for reasonably priced jewelry for his wife who runs a small jewelry business in Manila.

Shortly after the diamond was found missing, the exhibitor reported the incident to the police who subsequently recovered the CCTV footage. The five Filipinos were later identified.

Fair organizers who manned the registration counters earlier told the court that the five Filipinos registered simultaneously as shown in the CCTV footage, starting from 11:30 a.m.

The organizers also explained that the police had to verify the identities of guests coming from the Philippines, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba and Costa Rica due to previous theft cases.

Through their bar-coded visitor passes, their entry and exit times in the fair revealed that the five Filipinos stayed inside the exhibition less than an hour, or until noon. They also returned to the fair shortly before 5 p.m. wearing different clothes, and stayed inside the exhibit hall for only about 12 minutes.

Pineda claimed that he had to return to the fair since he had not yet bought anything. He added that he returned with the four other Filipinos since they had agreed to meet at the exhibition lobby earlier in the day.

“If I were with them, we would not have reached this trial. Maybe I would just ask forgiveness from your country. I am here on trial because I am fighting for my right and dignity. I did not know about the theft. I did not know these people,” Pineda said in Filipino during his trial last June 22.

The district court judge had asked Pineda why he only stayed in the jewelry fair for less than an hour if he was indeed trying to look for something to buy.

Pineda answered that Padilla had invited them to eat outside so he left the venue with the three other Filipinos.

The judge also asked Pineda why he had to return to the jewelry fair in the afternoon only to stay there for about 12 minutes.

Pineda claimed that he had not purchased jewelry so he returned, and again left when someone from the group said they better go since the jewelry were expensive.

However, immigration records showed that the five Filipino tourists boarded the same Cebu Pacific flight on Nov. 23, 2010.

The Hong Kong police also learned that they stayed in one room at the Goodrich Hotel in Yau Ma Tei under Pineda’s name. They were initially supposed to leave Hong Kong on Nov. 27 but they rebooked their tickets a day earlier.

Pineda reasoned out that they stayed in the same hotel room since they had been looking for a cheap hotel and had agreed to share a room. He also claimed that his wife rebooked his flight for him.

The five Filipinos were arrested on Nov. 26, 2010 at the Hong Kong International Airport before they boarded their return flight to Manila.

In his interview with the Hong Kong police, Padilla admitted that he stole the diamond in exchange for P11,000 reward when he returns to Manila. Pua and Borres admitted that they participated in the jewelry theft, while Reyes admitted that he was a member of the syndicate.

Borres and Reyes also admitted that they violated the deportation order imposed on them on Jan. 7, 2006, and Oct. 23, 1996, respectively.

Borres further admitted that she falsely represented herself before the Hong Kong Immigration last Nov. 23, 2010 using a fake passport.

In asking for leniency, the lawyers of the four Filipinos argued that they stole the diamond out of financial difficulties. The lawyers stressed that the four Filipinos had earlier pleaded guilty to the offense to show remorse for the crime they had committed.

Padilla, 60, supports his six children. Pua supports her seven-year-old son. The widow Borres, 54, supports her parents and four children. Reyes, 61, supports three sons and six grandchildren.