A man from Hong Kong was arrested on Wednesday for fraud and laundering over HK$ 60 million (61.8 million patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Sio Keong said during a special press conference on Friday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 40-year-old man surnamed Wong who claimed to be jobless. According to Cheong, a second male suspect remained at large at the time of the press conference.
On August 1, the Judiciary Police received a report from a female victim who had met the scammer through a chat account and was defrauded by him in an investment scam in which she lost HK$5.12 million. PJ officers noticed in their investigation that there was a second victim in the same case who was also defrauded by the scammer, losing HK$3.3 million in the same investment scam.
In both cases, the scammer posed as a seasoned investor in order to gain the victims’ trust, deceiving them into using a fake investment platform. The fraud was carried out through both online transfers and offline cash transactions to illicitly obtain the victims’ money.
In a follow-up investigation, PJ officers noticed that the suspect who was still at large at the time of Friday’s press conference had been to a restaurant where Wong was working twice to give him cash fraudulently obtained from the two victims. The restaurant is owned by a relative of Wong. PJ officers went to the restaurant on Wednesday to arrest Wong and seized HK$1.6 million in cash from Wong who had hidden the money there.
According to Cheong, the Judiciary Police believe that since June 2024 Wong had been operating in Macau to receive cash from his handlers, in order to purchase virtual currencies as instructed by them to conceal and transfer funds of suspicious origin. According to the investigation, Wong had processed at least HK$60 million for the gang until his arrest.
Wong was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, facing charges of fraud and money laundering. At the time of the special press conference on Friday afternoon, the Judiciary Police were still looking for the second suspect.
Police arrest Indonesian female for loan sharking & cyber defaming
Meanwhile, PJ officers nabbed an Indonesian female for loan sharking and cyber defaming, PJ spokesman Cheong Sio Keong said during a special press conference on Friday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 42-year-old female surnamed Siti who said that she worked as a domestic helper.
Last Tuesday, according to Cheong, the Judiciary Police received a report from an Indonesian female domestic helper who told them she had taken out a high-interest loan due to her mother’s sudden illness and was in urgent need to pay for the medical treatment. After failing to repay the debt, the lender, an Indonesian compatriot, had seized both her passport and her non-resident worker’s identification card.
Cheong said that in June, the victim urgently needed to borrow money to cover her mother’s medical expenses. Through Siti she obtained a loan of 3,000 patacas at a monthly interest of 750 patacas, pledging her passport and non-resident workers’ identification card (commonly known as the “blue card”) as collateral. After failing to repay the debt, the victim was defamed by Siti in various online posts. She subsequently reported the incident to the police.
PJ officers intercepted Siti at her workplace and recovered the victim’s passport and “blue card” from her home. Cheong said that Siti had earned 300 patacas from the illegal loan. At the time of the press conference, the Judiciary Police were still looking for other individuals allegedly involved in the case.
The Judiciary Police transferred Siti to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) after Friday’s special press conference, facing charges of usury and a defamation, Cheong noted.
The Judiciary Police (PJ) display HK$1.6 million seized from a fraud suspect surnamed Wong from Hong Kong during Friday’s special press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape. – Photos: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
The hooded local Indonesian loan-sharking suspect surnamed Siti is escorted by two PJ officers to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters to be transferred to the nearby Public Prosecutions Office (MP) in Zape on Friday.
