The Judiciary Police arrested five men and a woman from the mainland on Monday for engaging in casino loansharking activities, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
The suspects have been identified by the police as a 33-year-old man surnamed Zhao, a 35-year-old man surnamed Lai, a 38-year-old man surnamed Xun, a 29-year-old woman surnamed Ceng, a 33-year-old man surnamed Lin, and a 34-year-old man surnamed Liu. All told the police that they are jobless.
According to Cheong, a middle-aged male gambler from the mainland was approached by Zhao early Monday morning while he was gambling in a casino. Zhao offered to lend money to the gambler. After the gambler agreed, Zhao, along with Lai, Ceng, and Zeng, went to the gambler’s guestroom to negotiate the loan terms. They agreed on a loan of HK$100,000, with 20 percent “interest” each time he won, after which he signed an IOU, along with a receipt for a pawned gold chain worth HK$120,000 as collateral.
Afterwards, Zhao and the others called in Lin and Liu to accompany the gambler to gamble and to collect “interest” from him. Lin and Liu collected HK$15,000 in “interest,” while the remainder monitored their “client”. By 5 a.m., the victim had gambled away all the borrowed money. They took him back to his guestroom to discuss repayment, and during this time, the gambler managed to surreptitiously contact a friend from the mainland, who was currently in Macau, for help. Hotel security reported the case to the police later that day after being told about it by the victim’s friend. The police, along with hotel security, arrested Zhao, Lai, Ceng, and Zeng in the guestroom and later apprehended Lin and Liu in the hotel.
Under questioning, the sextet refused to cooperate.
All suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of usury.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
