Filipino domestic worker selling knockoffs in HK eludes prison time

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A Filipino domestic worker has eluded prison time after she was found hawking knockoff Nike and Under Armour caps during her day off.

The 50-year-old domestic worker, identified as Milagros P, was discovered by authorities selling the goods in a walkway between the Central Market and Hang Seng Bank in Central, Hong Kong, as per Hong Kong News on Feb. 26.

The police officers saw Milagros with her trolley and asked her about the price of her caps. Upon telling them they were $20 each, the officers then arrested her. She apparently bought the caps for $15 each in Sham Sui Po.

Milagros was supposed to be sentenced to six weeks in prison, but in a turn of events, Eastern Presiding Magistrate Peter Law suspended her sentence on Jan. 31. There is one condition, however: Milagros must not commit any offense for the next 12 months.

“What you did is you tried to earn extra money on your leisure time,” Law was quoted as telling Milagros. “I will sentence you on this basis.”

Meanwhile, Milagros’ employers stood behind her and also wrote a letter to Judge Law asking for leniency.

“Her employer testifies that she is a reliable person and that they entrust her with taking care of their daughter,” Milagros’ lawyer said in the report. “She is the breadwinner of her family and earns extra money by selling the counterfeit products.”

He also noted that Milagros had never been in trouble with the law.

Milagros stepped foot in Hong Kong in 1994 and has been working there since, the report stated. She has a 29-year-old son with a mental disability back home in the Philippines who is cared for by her sister. Cody Cepeda/JB

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