A local female real estate agent was arrested last Friday for cheating three clients out of their deposits and rental payments totalling HK$34,000, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheong Heon Fan said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The 52-year-old suspect surnamed Iong is a licensed property agent.
According to Cheong, a local man reported to the Public Security Police on December 13 that he had been cheated by Iong out of HK$6,000 in a deal to rent a parking space in Taipa. He told the police that he got to know Iong on the internet early last month who offered a parking space for rent at HK$2,000 per month. Iong told him that he was required to pay three months’ rental totalling HK$6,000 and that she would pass the money to the landlord. The victim gave the money to Iong on December 9 but he discovered later that day that the landlord did not receive the three months’ rental payment. The victim was unable to contact Iong so he reported the case to the police.
Cheong said that another three men reported to the police last Wednesday that two of them had been cheated by Iong out of HK$28,000 in total. The two victims told the police that they got to know Iong from an advertisement for a flat rental in Taipa posted in a public place in mid-November. Iong took them to view the flat on November 23 and they signed the rental agreement. The duo paid HK$28,000 as the flat’s deposit to Iong who then gave them the keys. After the duo moved into the flat, a male real estate agent went to the flat last Tuesday where he found the two tenants. The agent told them that the company never received any deposit or rental agreement for the flat. The two tenants and the agent were unable to contact Iong and suspected that she had defrauded the victims so they all went and reported the case to the police.
According to Cheong, PSP officers identified Iong as the suspect. When the Public Security Police told Iong to report to a police station last Friday to assist in the investigation of an aiding and abetting case, PSP officers discovered that Iong was the suspect in the two fraud cases. Under questioning, Iong admitted to cheating the three victims.
Iong has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, according to Cheong.
This handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Wednesday shows PSP officers escorting the fraud suspect to a police station in Taipa.
