The suspected kingpin of a loan-sharking and money-laundering gang was arrested yesterday morning in Zhuhai and transferred to Macau by the Guangdong Public Security Department in the afternoon, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a special press conference in the area between Zhuhai’s Gongbei and Macau’s Barrier Gate checkpoints.
The 33-year-old local suspect is surnamed Kuan.
According to Lei, on June 24, 2019 the Judiciary Police arrested five suspected members of a loan-sharking and money-laundering gang which had arranged usurious loans for residents since 2015.
The Judiciary Police started investigating the case in 2017.
According to the investigations at that time, the gang ran several financial companies which charged its clients rapacious interest rates.
Lei said the gang had been in operation for about four years, involving over 60 victims, and more than 200 people had borrowed from the gang more than HK$25 million.
According to Lei, PJ officers discovered that Kuan was the gang’s kingpin who instructed others to open bank accounts to collect the victims’ repayments. The Judiciary Police confirmed that Kuan had left Macau by car on May 12, 2019 via the Barrier Gate checkpoint, and he was suspected of lying low in Zhuhai.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police had requested assistance in tracking down Kuan from the police in the mainland. The Judiciary Police were informed by the Guangdong Public Security Department yesterday morning that Kuan had just been arrested and that he would be transferred to Macau via the Gongbei checkpoint in the afternoon.
Lei said Kuan would be tested for COVID-19 and subsequently be transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for follow-up investigation. Lei said that the Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation to track the whereabouts of other possible suspects, according to Lei.
In June 2019, the police said that the gang had focused on non-gaming clients.
Guangdong Public Security Department officers handcuff the suspect during the transfer to the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday in the area between Zhuhai’s Gongbei and Macau’s Barrier Gate checkpoints.
A Guangdong Public Security Department officer (left) and a Judiciary Police (PJ) officer shake hands after yesterday’s fugitive transfer signing ceremony in the area between Zhuhai’s Gongbei and Macau’s Barrier Gate checkpoints.
Photos: Iong Tat Choi
