Pinay arrested over death of 2 Americans

HONG KONG (AP) – Hong Kong police arrested a Filipino prostitute who was in the luxury hotel room where two American businessmen were found dead of possible poisoning last week, an investigator said Tuesday.

Police are investigating whether the two Americans – identified only by their first names, Paul, 45, and Richard, 51, – were drugged at the five-star Grand Hyatt hotel last Friday.

The 20-year-old Filipino woman, Michelle Balingit Callejas, was arrested Friday night and appeared in court Monday, charged with immigration violations, a police investigator said. She remained in police custody.

“We still don’t know if she has anything to do with the deaths, but she did appear in the hotel room,” said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to talk to media.

Callejas – who worked at the Show Biz Night Club, a 15-minute walk from the Grand Hyatt – was charged with violating her condition of stay in Hong Kong by working outside her place of employment as a prostitute, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Prostitution is legal in Hong Kong, but running a brothel is not.