The Judiciary Police have arrested two men from the mainland for engaging in loansharking activities, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
The 46-year-old man surnamed Wang and the 40-year-old man surnamed Ma told the police that they are jobless.
According to Chong, the police received a report on Saturday from a middle-aged man from the mainland who was unable to recover the collateral he had provided for a high-interest gambling loan. The man met Wang and Ma through WeChat and arranged to borrow money in Macau. Wang said that he could lend HK$1 million, with the conditions of providing antiques as collateral and taking 10 percent “interest” each time he won, apart from 30 percent as “interest” on the total winnings. The man provided a number of artefacts and paintings as collateral.
Wang took the man to various casinos to gamble, but the chips were always held by Wang. The man could not really take part in the games, so he decided finally to stop gambling. However, Wang claimed that the victim owed him HK$120,000 and refused to return the collateral. The victim reported to the police that HK$199,000 had been taken as “interest”, while the collateral worth 21.6 million yuan (23.86 million patacas) was not returned to him. The police apprehended Wang and Ma at the scene. The police then confiscated HK$422,000 in cash and HK$745,000 in chips from the two suspects.
The whereabouts of the antiques were not disclosed by Chong.
Under questioning, both suspects refused to cooperate.
The duo have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of usury.
