A local man was arrested on Thursday for cheating at least 180 casino clients by offering them a purported high-interest deposit plan involving more than HK$50.8 million, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at a special press conference on Friday.
The 32-year-old suspect surnamed Kuok told the police that he is a businessman.
Ho said that three clients of a casino-based counter allegedly linked to a VIP room reported to the police last week that they had been cheated. The mainland trio are aged between 31 and 48, comprising a businessman, a retiree and a jobless man.
According to Ho, one of the three clients reported to the Judiciary Police based at a casino in Cotai on July 24 that he was unable to withdraw HK$1.55 million from his VIP room account. The client later told the police that he had reached an agreement with the VIP room and the incident was just a misunderstanding so there was no need for the Judiciary Police to get involved. However, PJ officers found the case suspicious and launched their investigation into the case.
Ho said the other two VIP room clients reported to the Judiciary Police on Thursday that they had been defrauded by a VIP room out of a total of HK$750,000. They said that a friend had told them that a casino-based counter linked to a VIP room was offering a high interest deposit plan, promising eight percent interest on their deposits plus daily earnings of 1.8 percent. The duo said they opened an account each and deposited HK$300,000 and HK$450,000 on July 2 and July 11 respectively. The victims told the police that they were paid interest on the deposits initially. However, they were unable to receive any money from July 20 onwards. The duo went to the counter on Thursday and discovered that it had been closed down. Both suspected that they had been cheated and decided to report the case to the police.
According to Ho, the Judiciary Police discovered that the counter had signed an agreement with a VIP room to assist in the latter’s operation and started its business on May 25. However, Ho said, the counter did not operate as a gaming intermediary, and the agreement was signed by Kuok on behalf of the counter. Ho said that the counter had stopped its operation on July 24.
Ho did not say in which casino the counter operated.
Ho said the Judiciary Police told Kuok to report to a police station on Thursday for questioning. Kuok denied the allegations, claiming that he had only assisted “someone” in signing the agreement with the VIP room, and that he was only responsible for the management of the counter and did not know that the counter offered a high-interest deposit plan. However, the Judiciary Police’s investigation showed that Kuok was in charge of running the counter.
According to Ho, the Judiciary Police estimate that there were more than 180 customers attracted by the purported high-interest deposit plan, involving deposits of more than HK$50.8 million. The police investigation showed that Kuok defrauded customers by promising them high interest. Ho said the Judiciary Police were continuing their investigation to track down other possible suspects and the whereabouts of the ill-gotten money.
Kuok was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, facing a fraud charge, according to Ho.
The fraud suspect surnamed Kuok is being escorted by the Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle on Friday. Photos: MPDG
Evidence seized from the fraud suspect such as a smartphone, computer CPU and purported investment brochures is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters on Friday.
