A local taxi driver was arrested on Saturday for cheating a male mainland tourist out of HK$900 after the victim had paid the taxi fare, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheong Heon Fan said at a regular press conference on Monday.
The 67-year-old suspect is surnamed Un.
According to Cheong, a male tourist from the mainland told the police on November 22 last year that a cabbie had cheated him out of HK$900 earlier that night. The victim told the police that he got a taxi from Praça das Portas do Cerco near the Barrier Gate checkpoint to Rua de Malaca in Zape. The taxi fare was 45 patacas. He gave the driver a HK$1,000 note. The cabbie gave him the change and he got out of the cab. Soon afterwards he discovered that the driver had only given him 55 patacas change. However, the cabbie had meanwhile sped away. The victim suspected that the driver had cheated him and reported the case to the police.
According to Cheong, after scrutinising CCTV footage from the area, PSP officers identified Un and told him to report to the police on Saturday. Under questioning, Un admitted that he had cheated the passenger “out of greed.” He claimed that he had already spent the HK$900.
Un has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, according to Cheong.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Monday shows the fraud suspect being escorted by PSP officers to a vehicle at the PSP headquarters in Zape.
