The owner of a now defunct engineering company was arrested on Wednesday in Zhongshan for cheating two mainlanders out of 2.9 million yuan (3.6 million patacas) in purported construction projects, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a special press conference yesterday.
The 48-year-old suspect surnamed Kou was the owner of the local company, which he closed in May this year, according to Lei.
Lei said the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) requested the Judiciary Police in March this year for assistance in investigating two document forgery cases. Two male mainlanders in charge of two engineering companies in the mainland were cheated out of nearly 3 million yuan in two construction projects, according to the office.
Lei said that the first victim reported a loss of 2.28 million yuan. In May 2019, Kou and an accomplice proposed the victim jointly invest in a construction site project in Coloane. The victim transferred 1.78 million yuan as “guarantee” to Kou in early September 2019. However, in mid-September, Kou told the victim to pay an additional five million yuan. Kou showed him a contract and an authorisation letter from the construction site’s main contractor. The victim then paid Kou 500,000 yuan and asked for a receipt. However, Kou never gave him the receipt and there was no follow-up news about the project. In June 2020, Kou told the victim that the project had been cancelled and promised that he would return the money to him. However, Kou did not keep his promise so the victim checked with the main contractor and discovered that the documents which Kou had shown him were forgeries.
According to Lei, the second victim reported a loss of 628,000 yuan. He told the police that Kou assisted him in getting a construction project in Coloane in April 2020. Kou helped the victim arrange 22 mainlanders to come to work in Macau. However, only 13 non-resident work permits were approved. The victim later discovered that all the documents were forged. The victim was cheated out of 128,000 yuan. In June 2020, Kou also introduced an elderly care facility project in the northern district to the victim and asked him to transfer 500,000 yuan, but afterwards there was no further news about the project. The victim later discovered that the contracts were forged as well.
Lei said that the Judiciary Police discovered that Kou absconded to the mainland via the Barrier Gate checkpoint in May this year. PJ officers notified the Public Security Bureau (PSB) in the mainland to assist in the investigation and arrested Kou in the town of Tanzhou, which belongs to Zhongshan city, on Wednesday. Tanzhou lies some 10 kilometres north of Macau.
Lei said that Kou was transferred to Macau on the same day for follow-up investigation. He was handed over to local police officers at Gongbei-Macau border checkpoint. Kou admitted to defrauding the victims and claimed to have used 1.8 million yuan of their money to repay his personal debts. However, he denied that he had signed any forged contracts and authorisation letters.
Lei said that that the time of the press conference the Judiciary Police were still looking for Kou’s accomplice as well as the whereabouts of the ill-gotten money.
Kou was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing fraud and document forgery charges, according to Lei.
The hooded fraud suspect is being escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle in Zape yesterday. Photos: Camy Tam
Evidence seized from the fraud suspect – such as a smartphone and forged documents as well as photos provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) showing the fraud suspect being transferred to Macau by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) to the Judiciary Police on Wednesday afternoon – is displayed in a pressroom at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday afternoon.
