The Judiciary Police (PJ) on Monday arrested five men from the Chinese mainland for loan sharking PJ spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday.
Leng identified the suspects as a 40-year-old man surnamed Wang and a 44-year-old man surnamed Wu, both of whom claimed to be jobless; a 39-year-old business man surnamed Zhou, a 34-year-old business man surnamed Yan, and a construction worker, age undisclosed, surnamed Cheng, adding that another suspect was still at large at the time of the conference.
According to Leng, the Judiciary Police received a report from a casino in Cotai on Monday about an argument in one of their smoking lounges. After arriving at the scene, PJ officers arrested the five suspected loan sharks, as well as a gambler who later turned witness.
PJ officers investigating the row discovered that at 2 a.m. on Monday the gambler was approached by one of the suspects in a casino in Cotai who offered to lend him money.
The suspect then arranged for the victim to meet with Wang in a hotel guestroom to discuss the terms of the instant gambling loan. According to the IOU, Wang lent the gambler HK$350,000 (360,160 patacas). According to their agreement, if the victim won at the baccarat table with 8 or 9 points, Wang would receive ‘interest’ equivalent to 25 percent of the betting amount. Leng added that the victim signed the IOU and surrendered his ID card and passport for the gang to photocopy.
At around 4 a.m. that day, the gang took the victim to another casino also in Cotai for gambling, according to Leng.
While gambling, Leng said, Zhou and Ng were tasked with collecting the “interest” and staying with the victim, while Wang, Cheng and Yan monitored the situation from nearby.
By around 6 a.m., the victim had gambled away all the money, Leng said, adding that throughout the session, a total of HK$170,000 had been deducted by the gang as “interest”, adding that some of the “interest” has been taken away by the suspect who, at the time of yesterday’s press conference, was still at large
Afterwards, a dispute broke out between the two sides in the smoking lounge over the repayment of the debt, which alerted the casino security and led to the Judiciary Police being called for assistance, according to Leng.
PJ officers seized HK$30,000 in gaming chip, HK$12,000 in cash and seven smartphones from the gang.
The quintet was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing usury charges.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the five hooded loan-sharking suspects to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Armindo Neves
