Camy Tam
A man from the mainland was arrested last week at the Barrier Gate checkpoint for cheating a businessman, with the help of an accomplice, out of HK$100,000 in a currency exchange scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) Leng Kam Lon said at a press briefing this week.
The 41-year-old suspect surnamed Zhao told the police that he is a taxi driver in the mainland.
According to Leng, the victim, a businessman also from the mainland, reported to the police in January last year that he had been cheated by two mainlanders out of HK$100,000 in a currency exchange deal on January 8 last year. He said that he had met the two suspects in a guestroom of a casino-hotel resort in Cotai and agreed to exchange 90,000 yuan for HK$100,000. One of the suspects showed him a money transfer message on his smartphone and the victim gave them HK$100,000. After the suspects left the room, the victim discovered that he had not received the money and later realised that the suspect merely showed him the transfer application, not the transfer’s confirmation.
Leng said the Judiciary Police identified the suspects and discovered that both had left Macau after committing the crime. Zhao was arrested when he re-entered Macau via the Barrier Gate checkpoint last Thursday. He refused to cooperate with the police. The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation into the case.
Zhao was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) last Friday for further questioning.
