The Judiciary Police and Hong Kong police last month launched a joint operation to combat online scams in which four suspects were arrested in Macau and three in Hong Kong earlier this week. The two gangs defrauded victims out of over 20 million patacas in total, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a special press conference yesterday.
The two criminal organisations appeared to have operated separately.
The Macau-based gang comprised members from Mali (a former French colony in West Africa), Indonesia and Myanmar, as well as a local woman.
The four suspects arrested in Macau comprise a 43-year-old jobless suspect surnamed Mamadou from Mali, the gang’s suspected kingpin. His 40-year-old Indonesian girlfriend surnamed Pujiati is a non-resident worker employed as a casino restaurant staff member. The other two gang members are a 29-year-old man surnamed Aung from Myanmar, a non-resident worker employed as a casino restaurant worker, and a 31-year-old local woman surnamed Lei who told the police that she works as an accountant.
According to the spokeswoman, due to the prevalence of online scams in Macau, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia in recent years, the local police and the Hong Kong police launched a joint operation in middle of last month. After an in-depth investigation and intelligence exchanges, the police discovered that the destinations of the remittances of the ill-gotten money mainly involved neighbouring regions and Southeast Asia. Based on intelligence from various parties, the two police forces separately identified two gangs and took action on Tuesday.
The Judiciary Police arrested the four suspects in several residential flats. Mamadou and his Indonesian girlfriend were arrested at their respective homes. PJ officers seized 300,000 patacas in cash, two ATM cards, more than 10 smartphones, a computer and a number of SIM cards at her home. The officers also seized a number of electronic devices and ATM cards in the other suspects’ homes. The Judiciary Police believe that the gang was involved in at least five online dating fraud cases in Macau, with at least seven victims who had reported a total loss of about 400,000 patacas. Besides the seven victims, PJ officers also discovered hundreds of unidentified payments totalling 1.1 million patacas, and the officers believe that there are still many victims who have not reported their cases to the police, the spokeswoman said.
According to the spokeswoman, Mamadou refused to cooperate with the police and could not explain where all the money came from. Aung admitted to collecting money from the fraud victims at Mamadou’s behest.
Pujiati was tasked with enlisting people who provided their bank accounts to receive the fraudulently collected money. Lei was responsible for providing her bank account for gang members to deposit the money into. PJ officers discovered that Lei’s account processed and remitted hundreds of unidentified payments. The spokeswoman said the Judiciary Police will contact the gang’s other victims and track down the whereabouts of other possible suspects who were still on the run at the time of the press conference.
The spokeswoman said the Hong Kong (HK) police have also taken action in the past few days and arrested three gang members. The HK police seized evidence such as cash, bank account information and electronic equipment. The gang caught in Hong Kong was involved in at least 10 online crimes in Hong Kong, involving about HK$20 million.
The Macau-based quartet were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing fraud and money laundering charges, according to the spokeswoman.
The four suspects are being escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle yesterday. Photos: Camy Tam
Evidence seized from the suspects such as a dozen smartphones, two computer laptops, one computer tablet, a number of SIM cards and bank cards is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday.
