MANILA, Philippines–A househelp was arrested on Friday night in Quezon City after her fellow maid revealed that the former had stolen over P100,000 in cash and jewelry in the past week from their boss.
The suspect, Kaye Elaine Tena, 39, faces qualified theft raps for allegedly stealing from her boss, Annaliza Go, 37, of Barangay Sikatuna.
Tena was arrested after her fellow househelp, Mary Joy Matas, 19, squealed on her despite having been paid P5,000 to keep mum about the theft.
Police said Go lodged a complaint on Wednesday after finding out that she lost around P100,000 worth of jewelry and P30,000 in cash. She said she had suspected her maids from taking them but she lacked hard evidence to prove it.
Following police interrogation, Go returned home the following day with her two maids and said she was willing to forgive them as long as the jewelry would be returned.
That night, Tena went out. In her absence, Matas told Go that it was Tena who stole the cash and jewelry. She also surrendered the P5,000 that she said Tena gave to her to keep quiet.
Tena allegedly told Matas that she took the P20,000 allegedly to get the jewelry that she pawned and that she also stole another P10,000 on Sept. 6.
Go told police that Tena returned on Friday morning and surrendered the pawn tickets, asking to be spared from charges. Go added that Tena initially denied taking the cash, but eventually admitted to the theft. She was arrested by police on Friday night.