A local woman acted as a real estate agent renting out a flat to two Malaysian non-resident workers and cheated them out of HK$24,000, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheuk Kou Chi told reporters on Wednesday at a regular press conference.
According to Cheuk, the 50-year-old jobless local woman, surnamed Iong, posted in a Facebook group about a residential flat for rent in Nape. Cheuk said that after the two victims saw the post, they contacted the suspect last November and agreed to pay a HK$8,000 deposit. Cheuk added that the suspect then told the victims that someone else showed interest in renting the flat and asked the victims to pay an additional HK$16,000 to show their “sincerity”. Cheuk pointed out that after the victims paid the money, Iong promised them she would sign the contract with them in a month. However, Cheuk said, Iong kept on using different excuses to push back the contract signing date, so the victims started to find her behaviour suspicious and reported the case to the police.
Cheuk said the police were able to locate Iong and arrested her in Rua de Nam Keng in Taipa. Cheuk pointed out that because the suspect was in dire straits, she decided to scam the non-resident workers. Cheuk noted that the suspect has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing fraud charges.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Wednesday shows a PSP officer escorting the local woman who pretended to be a real estate agent to the PSP headquarters in Zape.
