A local woman was arrested on Monday for stealing HK$100,000 in cash from a mainland gambler at a casino in Zape last month, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The 64-year-old jobless suspect is surnamed Lei who told the police that she had gambled away the HK$100,000.
According to Chan, the male victim reported to the Judiciary Police early on May 20 that HK$100,000 he kept in his bag had vanished in a casino in Zape. PJ officers scrutinised the casino’s CCTV footage and discovered that when the victim was gambling at about 10:20 p.m. the day before, a woman stood close behind the victim who was focusing on the games at that time. While the mainlander was gambling, the woman stole the money from his bag and left the casino. PJ officers located Lei’s home in Rua dos Curtidores, a street near Kiang Wu Hospital, and arrested her outside the building on Monday. Under questioning, Lei admitted to committing the crime. Lei said she saw that the victim’s bag was unzipped and then stole the money from the bag. She claimed that she had gambled away all the stolen money.
Lei was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Tuesday, facing an aggravated theft charge, according to Chan.
