A pawnshop manager was arrested on Monday for embezzling HK$2.87 million from his employer last year, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said at a regular press conference yesterday.
The 32-year-old local suspect is surnamed Cheng.
According to Leng, the Public Security Police (PSP) referred the case to the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Monday after Cheng had appeared at a PSP station in Zape to hand himself in.
According to Leng, Cheng had been employed by the pawnshop since 2007. He told the police that he embezzled more than HK$2 million from the company.
According to Leng, PJ officers contacted the person in charge of the pawnshop who told the police that in the past Cheng had sold a number of deluxe watches on behalf of the shop and always handed in the money earnt from the transactions.
However, at the end of last month, when closing last year’s accounts the person in charge discovered that a total of HK$2.57 million earnt from the luxury watch sales between January and December 2020 had not yet been handed in by Cheng.
Asked about it by the person in charge, Cheng admitted that due to his own debts he had used the earnings from the watch sales to repay his debts and cover other expenses. Cheng signed an IOU with the shop and promised to pay the shop the HK$2.57 million as soon as possible, Leng said.
After further checking the shop’s records, the person in charge discovered that Cheng had also concealed the sale of a watch worth HK$300,000. Consequently, the person in charge reported a total loss of HK$2.87 million to the police.
Cheng surrendered to the PSP police station on Monday and admitted to the crime. However, he refused to reveal the buyers of the watches. The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigations.
Cheng was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Tuesday, facing an abuse-of-trust charge, involving a considerable amount, officially defined as exceeding 150,000 patacas, according to Leng.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon poses during yesterday’s regular press conference.
Photo: Camy Tam
