A woman from the mainland was arrested on Sunday in a casino-resort hotel in Cotai for stealing HK$47,000 from her male friend who kept the money in the guestroom’s safe, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a press briefing on Monday.
The 36-year-old suspect surnamed Chen (諶) told the police that she is unemployed.
According to Lei, the Public Security Police (PSP) referred a theft case to the Judiciary Police on Sunday – a woman had stolen HK$47,000 in cash from her male friend who was staying with her at a casino-resort hotel in Cotai. Lei said that the male victim from the mainland had met Chen when he visited Macau at the end of last year. They came to Macau together last Tuesday and stayed in the same guestroom. On Saturday, the victim put HK$47,000 in the room’s safe and the duo went out.
Lei said that the victim returned to the room early on Sunday but he could not find Chen. He then received a message from her saying that she had left Macau. The victim grew suspicious and checked the safe. He discovered that all the cash he had put in the safe had vanished.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police identified Chen who was intercepted by the security guards of another casino-resort hotel in Cotai on Sunday night. PJ officers arrived at the scene and questioned Chen who admitted that she stole the victim’s HK$47,000 from the room’s safe. Chen claimed that she had gambled away all the stolen money.
Chen has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing an aggravated theft charge, according to Lei.
