A man was arrested on Wednesday for stealing his girlfriend’s valuables worth over 100,000 patacas from the victim’s flat in Rua do Canal Novo in the northern district last month, he then pawned the stolen items and gambled away the filthy lucre, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a special press conference yesterday.
The 52-year-old local jobless suspect is surnamed Si.
According to Lei, the Public Security Police (PSP) referred the case to the Judiciary Police for investigation on Wednesday.
A local woman told PSP officers early on Wednesday that when she returned home at 3 a.m. that day she found a bunch of keys in the lock of her flat’s metal gate
While there were no signs of someone having searched her flat, she nevertheless decided to check whether her valuables were still there. She soon discovered that over 22,000 patacas in cash and a brand watch worth about HK$53,000 kept in her wardrobe drawer and several pieces of gold jewellery worth about 23,000 patacas kept in her unlocked safe had vanished. The victim reported a total loss of over 100,000 patacas. She told the police that she had not locked the safe because the lock didn’t work.
Lei said the victim lived with her daughter and her boyfriend, who had moved in with them last month. The victim and Si left home separately on Tuesday afternoon and her daughter returned home at around 9 p.m.
When the victim returned home early Wednesday, she discovered the key was still in the metal gate lock and later discovered that her valuables had vanished.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police believed that there was a low probability of the flat having been burgled. PJ officers later confirmed that it was the victim’s daughter who forgot to remove her keys from the metal gate lock that night. The officers then discovered that Si had been to three pawnshops recently to hock the victim’s valuables. The police later retrieved the stolen watch and pieces of gold jewellery from the shops.
Lei said Si was arrested by the Public Security Police on Tuesday night for drunk driving and was transferred to the Judiciary Police the next day for questioning about the thefts from his girlfriend’s flat. Si admitted to committing the crime, claiming that he stole the valuables over a period of time when there was no-one in the flat. Si told the police that he had pawned the valuables for more than 90,000 patacas and gambled away all the money.
Si was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing aggravated theft and fraud charges, according to Lei.
The hooded fraud suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday. Photos Iong Tat Choi
Evidence seized by the Judiciary Police (PJ) officers such as a brand watch, a gold bracelet and four pawnshop receipts is displayed at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday.
