New maid steals P.5-M diamond ring, pawns it for P3K

MANILA, Philippines - A woman who had been working as a maid for less than a week was arrested yesterday for stealing her Taiwanese employer’s P500,000 diamond ring and pawning it for P3,000.

Rona Joy Ampater, 19, said she did not know the ring cost that much. She said a pawnshop in Litex, Quezon City did not give her any document as proof of the transaction.

Bernadette King, 60, said she left Ampater and another maid, whose brother recruited Ampater to work for her, in her condominium unit in Sta. Cruz, Manila Sunday. The unnamed maid’s brother is Ampater’s boyfriend.

King said when she returned, Ampater was missing and so was her diamond ring.

The condominium’s security chief said they spotted Ampater in Payatas, Quezon City but she evaded arrest. Police also failed to find her at her registered address.

After telling Ampater’s boyfriend that they will implicate his sister – King’s other maid – in the theft, the man accompanied them to a shanty in Quezon City he and Ampater rented, police said.

Ampater faces qualified theft charges.