A 60-year-old mainland woman was arrested for overstaying in Macau for 13 years last Monday, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheong Heon Fan said at a regular press conference on Friday.
The suspect surnamed Lao has been in Macau since 2009, according to Cheong.
Cheong said that the police recently received a report about someone illegally working as a car washer at a residential building’s carpark in Taipa. The police went to the carpark last Monday where they saw the suspect washing a car. Cheong said that the suspect could not provide her identity document but the police found a poorly faked Macau ID (BIR) card in her wallet.
According to Cheong, the suspect told the police that she paid 150 yuan to buy the bogus Macau ID card from a man in 2009. After getting the fake ID card, she used her passport to enter Macau. During her stay in the city, she earnt money by washing cars randomly at car parks in different districts, Cheong said, adding that she washed the cars when the owners parked them and then waited for them to return and asked for 50 to 100 patacas for the service.
After checking immigration records, Cheong said that the suspect had been overstaying since August 2009, adding that she was homeless in Macau, mostly sleeping under footbridges.
Meanwhile, Cheong said that a 35-year-old local woman surnamed Fong was also arrested last week for hiring Lao to wash her car in Taipa.
Fong told the police that she works as a secondary school teacher.
Under questioning, Fong told the police that she hired Lao for a monthly salary of 220 patacas to wash her car regularly. However, Fong claimed that she did not know that Lao was an illegal worker overstaying in Macau, according to Cheong.
Cheong said that Lao and Fong were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) where Lao faces charges of document forgery and working illegally, while Fong faces an illegal employment charge. Cheong said that the case needed further investigation.
This undated pixelated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Friday shows the overstaying car washer being escorted by two officers to a police station.
