A man from the mainland was arrested on Friday for lending money at a usurious rate to a gambler and stealing gambling chips worth about HK$130,000 from him in a casino VIP room on Thursday with the help of an accomplice who was still on the run at the time of the press conference, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said at a press briefing on Monday.
The 35-year-old suspect surnamed Lei told the police that he is a businessman.
According to Chong, a man from the mainland surnamed Zhang reported to the Judiciary Police on Thursday night that two men had stolen some of his chips when he was gambling in a VIP room of a resort in Cotai earlier that night. Zhang told the police that he borrowed HK$300,000 from Lei and an accomplice earlier that day to gamble. The deal was that half of the loan – chips worth HK$150,000 – were used as collateral and 12 percent of each of his winnings would be taken as interest. Lei and the accomplice then accompanied Zhang to the VIP room to gamble. Zhang later discovered that the duo had stolen some of his chips while he was gambling so he reported the case to the police.
Chong said when PJ officers arrived at the scene, the accomplice had already left with the stolen chips, leaving Lei there who admitted to committing the crime. The officers scrutinised the CCTV footage and discovered that the duo stole chips from Zhang multiple times when he was gambling, with a loss totalling about HK$130,000. The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation into the case and are looking for the accomplice as well as the stolen chips.
Lei was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, facing charges of usury and aggravated theft, according to Chong.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong looks on during Monday’s press conference at the PJ headquarters. Photo: Camy Tam
