A Filipino non-resident worker was arrested last Monday for cheating a local woman out of HK$300,000 in an online dating scam this year, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said at a press briefing on Friday.
The 36-year-old suspect surnamed Cavanban told the police that he works as a sales assistant. He previously worked in a car dealership for more than a year until September this year.
According to Chan, a woman reported to the police in July this year that she had been cheated by her “online boyfriend” out of HK$300,000. She told the police that in February she met a man on the internet who claimed to be an “Italian petroleum engineer”. They soon became online lovers. Her boyfriend later told her that he needed spare parts for his oil exploration machine but it was difficult for him to arrange funding as he was overseas. He asked the woman to advance HK$300,000 so she transferred the money to a local bank account on July 20. Afterwards, the victim was unable to contact her “boyfriend” so she reported the case to the police.
Chan said that the Judiciary Police discovered that the victim had transferred the money to the suspect’s former employer who is the owner of a car dealership. The owner told the police that Cavanban had worked for him for about a year and a half. Cavanban told him that he had made a profit from investing in “virtual currency” and his employer let him transfer the HK$300,000 to his bank account in July. The owner withdrew the money and gave it to Cavanban who resigned in September this year.
According to Chan, Cavanban was arrested last Monday when he went to the Immigration Department in Pac On about an employment issue. Under questioning, Cavanban denied committing the crime. At the time of the press conference, the Judiciary Police were still investigating the whereabouts of the HK$300,000.
Cavanban has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, according to Chan.
