A mainland woman was arrested on Monday for stealing a gambler’s man-bag worth HK$90,000 as well as HK$1.32 million in cash earlier that day, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kam Fai said at yesterday’s special press conference.
The jobless suspect in her thirties is surnamed Gao from Zhejiang province. The victim is a mainland man from Hebei in his twenties who told the police that he is a businessman.
According to Cheong, the Public Security Police (PSP) notified the Judiciary Police on Monday morning about a theft in a casino hotel guestroom in Zape. A mainland man in his twenties told the police that he arrived in Macau on Saturday for “leisure and gambling” and stayed in a casino hotel in Cotai. Cheong said the gambler withdrew about HK$1.4 million from a VIP room account for gambling. The man gambled for some time and still had HK$1.32 million in cash with him after which he returned to his room to take a rest.
According to Cheong, when the victim went to another casino in Cotai to gamble again at about 2 a.m. on Monday, a woman approached him, and soon afterwards the two had a meal together. The victim drank a lot of spirits and got drunk.
At about 5 a.m., the woman took the victim to a hotel room to rest. When he woke up at about 8 a.m. he discovered that the woman had left and his man-bag worth HK$90,000 containing HK$1.32 million in cash had vanished. He had put the man-bag next to the TV. He immediately reported the case to the police.
Cheong said PJ officers identified Gao with the help of CCTV footage. The officers discovered that Gao had gone to a jewellery shop in Zape on Monday to exchange HK$1.06 million into yuan, after which she remitted the money to the mainland with the help of the shop. PJ officers arrested Gao on Monday afternoon in a hotel room in Zape.
Under questioning, Gao admitted to stealing the money out of greed. She told the police that she threw away the man-bag in the street near the hotel and took the stolen money to a jewellery shop to exchange it into yuan so that she could remit it to a bank account in the mainland.
PJ officers discovered that Gao is an overstayer and seized HK$255,000 in suspected stolen money and four casino chips from her. The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation to trace the whereabouts of the remaining stolen money.
Gao was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of aggravated theft and illegally staying in Macau, according to Cheong.
The hooded theft suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday.
Evidence seized from the theft suspect such as Hong Kong dollar notes and casino chips is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters during yesterday’s special press conference. Photos: Iong Tat Choi
