Brawl over 174,400 yuan sent to wrong account
A mainlander was arrested on Monday in a hotel guestroom in Cotai for allegedly attacking three fellow members of a currency exchange gang with a knife earlier that day, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said in a special press conference at the PJ headquarters yesterday.
The 39-year-old suspect surnamed Qin told the police that he works as a driving instructor in the mainland. The three victims and Qin are fellow members of the currency exchange gang. The victims are aged between 18 and 36, comprising a couple and a man who is the younger brother of the woman.
According to Chan, the Public Security Police (PSP) informed the Judiciary Police on Monday morning that a man had attacked two men and a woman with a knife in a hotel guestroom in Cotai earlier that day. PJ officers discovered that the suspect (Qin) and the victims were friends. They had come to Macau from time to time since 2019 to work as illegal currency exchange dealers in local casinos. The quartet entered Macau again last Thursday and they all stayed in the same hotel guestroom.
Chan said that Qin picked up a client who had HK$1.3 million in cash on him on Saturday. He took the client to the guestroom to exchange HK$300,000 into yuan. The client forwarded an account number to one of the gang members and Qin made two transfers totalling 174,400 yuan to the client’s account. However, the client said that the money had not been received. One of the gang members later realised that he had given Qin the account number of another client. He promised Qin to assist him in getting back the money but was unable to.
According to Chan, after two days Qin felt that his fellow gang member was no longer keen on getting the money back and refused to share half of the loss with him. Qin’s fellow gang members had meanwhile moved to another hotel. Qin called the trio on Monday and told them to come to his room to discuss how to get the money back from the “wrong” client. Qin again asked the fellow gang member who had given him the wrong account number to bear half of the loss but the trio disagreed. Qin then left the room and went to a supermarket in Taipa, bought a 16cm-long knife and put it in the inner pocket of his jacket.
After returning to the room, Qin and the trio were still unable to reach a solution. Qin then pointed the knife at one of them, demanding once more that he share half of the loss. The other two tried to stop him and the quarrel turned into a free-for-all. The trio eventually snatched the knife from Qin and subdued him. The one who had given him the wrong account number sustained a neck injury while the two others suffered hand injuries. Afterwards, the trio sought help from a hotel security guard who reported the case to the police, Chan said.
According to Chan, Qin admitted that he attacked his three fellow gang members as he was unable to receive his money which he had transferred by mistake to another client due to being given the wrong account number by one of his currency exchange fellow gang members. A doctor confirmed that the trio’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Qin was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday morning, facing charges of aggravated coercion, causing bodily harm and possession of a prohibited weapon, according to Chan.
According to local police sources, illegal currency exchange dealers, many of them from the mainland, have become a major gaming-related security issue.
The hooded knifing suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a PJ vehicle yesterday. Photos: MPDG
The 16 cm-long knife which the suspect used when attacking three fellow illegal currency exchange gang members is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday.
