A WAITRESS involved in a gambling racket was fined $20,000 yesterday at Eastern Court.
Tse Pik-han, 43, earned commission on horse racing bets which she took from customers through telephones inside a North Point flat.
Their conversations were recorded on cassette tapes and the bets were written down on squares of tissue paper.
Defence lawyer Francis Ho Fook-hoi told the court Tse committed the offence for the money.
He said Tse was divorced with three children, aged 12, 17 and 19. They were all with her former husband, who did not have a steady job, and she provided them with a few thousand dollars each month.
Mr Ho said: 'She commenced this operation for a short period on a part-time basis only.
'She felt remorseful and promises not to commit this offence again.' Magistrate Yung Yiu-wing accepted Mr Ho's statement and said he was prepared to give Tse another chance.