HK$420,000 gold jewelry missing; domestic helper suspected
A Hong Kong woman reported the disappearance of HK$420,000 worth of gold jewelry from a safe. Suspicion falls on the family's Indonesian domestic helper, whose contract ends on October 31. Police are investigating, and no arrests have been made.
A Hong Kong woman has reported the disappearance of HK$420,000 worth of gold jewelry from a safe at her mother's home in Cheung Sha Wan, with suspicion falling on the family's Indonesian domestic helper, whose contract expires on 31 October.
The woman said the jewelry, including wedding gifts belonging to her and her sister, had vanished, leaving only empty jewelry boxes. She shared the incident on social media, saying she feared the items might never be recovered if the helper left Hong Kong before the case was resolved.
According to Sing Tao Probe, a sister publication of The Standard, the woman usually checked the safe every six months and had encountered no problems over the past two years. During her latest check, she found all the gold jewelry missing and noticed that the spare key was no longer in its usual place, raising suspicions that someone had accessed the safe without permission.
The missing items included four pairs of dragon-and-phoenix gold bangles, carved gold bracelets and other jewelry given to the sisters by relatives and friends over the years. The items were worth an estimated HK$420,000. She said the jewelry held sentimental value and she had struggled to come to terms with its disappearance.
Although the property was fitted with CCTV cameras, footage was retained for only one month. There were no cameras in the room where the safe was kept, and a review of the available recordings revealed no suspicious activity. She reported the incident to police, who questioned the helper for about an hour. The helper denied any involvement, and a check of her phone reportedly revealed nothing suspicious.
As the helper's contract had not yet expired, she continued living and working at the property. The woman said the helper had maintained a good relationship with her mother over the past two years, leaving her puzzled by the missing jewelry. She was particularly concerned that the jewelry would be difficult to recover if the helper left Hong Kong before investigators established what had happened.
The case drew attention online, with some netizens suggesting ways to recover the jewelry, while others cautioned against jumping to conclusions, saying someone known to the family could also be responsible. Police said they received a report on 19 October about the suspected theft of property worth about HK$420,000 from a flat in Cheung Sha Wan. The case was classified as theft and is under investigation. No arrests have been made.