Breach of Condition of Stay, illegal sales on facebook and product safety problems

Source link :

http://hongkongnews.com.hk/news/2-fdhs-fined-3k-for-selling-facial-creams/

2 FDHs fined $3K for selling facial creams for selling on Facebook a facial cream with unsafe levels of mercury, a Filipino domestic worker in Sheung Shui lost her job and was fined $3,000.

Eastern Courts Magistrate Chu Chung-keung on August 17 ordered Lyne P. Aprong, 30, to pay $3,000 after she was caught selling the facial cream to undercover customs agents at the World-Wide House in Central.

Veronica L. Pislaan, Aprong’s neighbor and her source of the facial cream, was also fined $3,000 plus $2,000 because the authorities discovered that she failed to renew her visa.

“(Aprong) is convicted of supplying unsafe consumer goods while (Pislaan) is convicted of supplying unsafe consumer goods and breach of condition of stay,” Magistrate Chu said.

Pislaan was also ordered to pay $963 for the government chemist tests conducted on the facial cream which showed that it contained unsafe levels of mercury.

The government initially charged them with taking illegal employment but these were dropped after the two FDHs decided to plea guilty on the other charges.

The case began after customs agents learned that Aprong was selling facial creams on Facebook. They decided to entrap Aprong and ordered three sets of facial cream from her.

An undercover agent met Aprong at the World-Wide House on April 12 and, after the Filipina received $570 in marked money, she was arrested.

Under investigation, Aprong admitted that she got 10 sets of the facial cream from her neighbor, Pislaan, who in turn, bought them from a shop in Tsuen Wan.

The two Filipinas denied knowing that the creams contained unsafe levels of mercury and were unfit for use. Taking dangerous dosages of mercury could lead to renal failure and death.

“There was nothing in the packaging to indicate that it was unsafe,” said Pislaan’s legal counsel.

Pislaan’s lawyer also said that his client was only “sharing” the product with her friends and was not actively selling it to others.

“What (Pislaan) was doing was giving it to friends and neighbors. In fact, (Aprong) has yet to pay her…It’s a substantial amount,” the lawyer said.

Aprong’s lawyer said his client was in fact also a victim of the facial cream because she suffered some health problems after using it.

“Because of her use of it, she suffered some changes to her face,” the lawyer said.

“She also had certain health problems because of the use of this cream,” he added.

Aprong’s lawyer asked for leniency, noting that her employer had already terminated her contract although she was the sole breadwinner of her family back in the Philippines.

Her mother is also suffering from breast cancer.

“She used to send $3,500 to the Philippines. That’s about 90 percent of her income,” the lawyer said.

He said Aprong’s younger sister just arrived here in Hong Kong in May but she has her own family to take care of while working here as a domestic helper.

On the other hand, Pislaan’s employer attended the hearing and, in a letter to the judge, described her as “honest, reliable, diligent and caring.”

Pislaan, 37, has three children—aged eight to 12 years old—with her husband in the Philippines. Her husband is unemployed.

fantastic!

sensational story.

real issue is dangerous goods, and unwitting distribution.

someone sold something on facebook.....wow