A financial loan scam syndicate which cheated two mainland businessmen out of HK$530,000 and 7,800 yuan (9,334 patacas) respectively was busted on Sunday, with four suspects from Hong Kong and the mainland arrested, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Lam said at a special press conference yesterday.
Ho said that three mainland suspects surnamed Lin, Xu and Wang are aged 59, 63 and 56 respectively, while the Hong Kong suspect, surnamed Lo is aged 56. Ho added that Wang is the only female and the quartet are all jobless.
According to Ho, the first victim, a 41-year-old businessman from the mainland, was introduced by a friend to Lo in August 2019 where Lo claimed that he was a manager of a Hong Kong bank. Lo then offered a HK$200 million financial loan to the victim, but required the victim to open a bank account and deposit HK$2.4 million in it, Ho said, adding that Lo requested a HK$600,000 fee after the loan was “approved”.
Ho said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic Lo suggested in February this year that the loan procedures be processed in Macau with the presence of Lin as the “lender” and Xu, who acted as a local banking staff member. Ho added that the scammers had shown the victim various bogus cheques, bank cards and contracts to make the syndicate’s operation look legitimate.
According to Ho, the victim met the trio at a bank branch in Nam Van and signed the “financial loan” contract on March 18, after which Lin deposited a HK$730,000 cheque into the victim’s new bank account as the first instalment. Ho said that Lo then claimed that the cheque would clear soon and demanded the promised HK$600,000 immediately, with the victim paying HK$530,000 to Lo.
Later that day, the victim found out that the cheque had bounced, Ho said, adding that the victim then could not contact the trio. Ho noted that the victim later reported the case to the Judiciary Police, saying that he had been defrauded out of HK$530,000.
Ho said that the police arrested the trio plus Wang, who had been responsible for watching and following the victim before the transaction was carried, out at a hotel in Zape on Monday.
Ho said that during the questioning of the quartet on Monday the police discovered that they had been planning to defraud another mainland businessman. Ho noted that the second victim was supposed to meet Lo on Monday and could have fallen for the same scheme, as thus far he had been cheated out of a “clearance fee” of 7,800 yuan for the loan by the syndicate.
According to Ho only Lo admitted to the crime and said that he took HK$200,000 as his share, while the others denied the accusation. The quartet were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday morning for follow-up investigation, facing charges of organised crime membership, document forgery and fraud involving a considerable amount money, Ho said.
Evidence seized from the suspects such as cash and cheques is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday.
The four suspects are being escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a PJ vehicle yesterday. Photos: William Chan
