An online sales assistant from the mainland was arrested on Wednesday in a casino-resort hotel in Cotai for robbing HK$200,000 in cash from two currency exchange dealers in a hotel guestroom earlier that day, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said at a special press briefing yesterday.
The 32-year-old suspect is surnamed Li.
The two currency exchange dealers, who are both in their thirties, are from the mainland. They entered Macau as tourists and illegally worked as currency exchange dealers here, Leng said, adding that the Public Security Police (PSP) will investigate both for working illegally in Macau.
According to Leng, Li entered Macau on Monday and checked into a casino-resort hotel in Cotai. He had HK$100,000 with him but gambled all the money away. He then contacted the two currency exchange dealers that he had dealt with before and asked them to go to his hotel guestroom as he wanted to exchange yuan into HK$250,000. After the duo entered Li’s room, they put the HK$250,000 cash on the coffee table. Li suddenly snatched HK$200,000 and ran out of the room. The two men chased after Li, and the chase alerted the hotel security guards. Li falsely accused the duo of robbing him and asked the guards to apprehend them.
The Judiciary Police arrived at the hotel to investigate and checked the smartphone messages between the two currency exchange dealers and Li regarding the deal. PJ officers discovered that Li had gambled away HK$100,000 and suspect that Li did not actually want to exchange money but merely planned to rob the two dealers of their cash after they came to his room.
Li was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of robbery and false accusation, according to Leng.
The hooded suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle in Zape yesterday. Photos courtesy of TDM
Evidence seized from the suspect such as Hong Kong dollar notes and a smartphone is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday.
