A local man was arrested on Monday for the rape and extortion of a prostitute by pretending to be a police officer, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday.
Leng identified the suspect as a 47-year-old man surnamed Lam, who claimed to be jobless. He was previously arrested on Friday for extorting 3,000 yuan from a prostitute by pretending to be a cop.
According to Leng, the Judiciary Police (PJ) were following up on an investigation into Lam’s extortion and impersonation of a police officer. The police discovered that after Lam had extorted 3,000 yuan from the prostitute on Thursday, he targeted another young mainland woman engaged in prostitution later the same day near a casino in Zape and followed her to another hotel. In the hotel lobby, Lam showed the victim a blue “employment safety card,” claiming to be a “police officer”, and requested to check the victim’s hotel guestroom. The victim believed Lam and allowed him to enter the guestroom.
Inside the guestroom, Lam “found” a large number of condoms and used them to “accuse” the victim of “illegal prostitution,” threatening to take her to a police station if she did not have sex with him. The victim was then forced to have sex with Lam.
Afterwards, Lam threatened the victim and forced her to withdraw cash from her mobile payment account and pawn her phone, because otherwise he would take her to a police station. On the way to a pawn shop, the victim called a male friend for help. Her friend arrived and argued with Lam, demanding he pay the fee for the sexual services provided by the victim. Lam claimed that he had no cash and left a metal necklace as “collateral.” Later, Lam called the victim and accused her of stealing his necklace, threatening to report the case to the police. Out of fear, the victim handed the necklace into a nearby police station under the pretext of having found it, but did not file a report.
This case was revealed when the Judiciary Police (PJ) contacted the victim for a follow-up investigation on Monday. Lam was arrested later that day in his flat. Under questioning, Lam refused to cooperate. Leng noted that he may be involved in at least two similar cases, and that there could be more victims.
Leng did not elaborate on how they found out about the second victim.
Lam was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of rape, extortion and impersonating a police officer.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
