A man from the mainland was arrested earlier this month for using practice banknotes to cheat a man out of 67,000 yuan (83,000 patacas) in a casino hotel in Cotai, according to a Judiciary Police (PJ) statement this week.
According to the statement, a man from the mainland reported to Judiciary Police on September 19 that he had been cheated out of 67,000 yuan by a man using practice banknotes. The Judiciary Police discovered that the victim contacted the suspect through a social media app for a currency exchange deal. They met in a men’s toilet of a casino hotel resort in Cotai to exchange 67,000 yuan into Hong Kong dollars in cash. After the victim transferred the money to an account provided by the suspect, the latter gave him a stack of 1,000 Hong Kong dollar notes. When the victim started counting, he discovered that there were only two genuine banknotes in the stack while the rest were practice banknotes. The victim realised that he had been cheated and called the police.
PJ officers rushed to the scene from where they took the suspect to a police station for questioning.
Based on evidence gathered during the investigation, the Judiciary Police assume that the suspect committed the crime. The suspect has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, according to the statement.
This undated handout photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) this week shows the two genuine Hong Kong dollar notes and practice banknotes seized during their operation on September 19.
