A Hong Kong businessman was arrested on Friday for defrauding four people out of HK$226 million a decade ago by offering them a purported high-interest deposit plan in a “casino-based operation”, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a regular press conference on Friday.
The 48-year-old suspect surnamed Lee told the police that he is a businessman.
According to Lei, PJ officers were informed by four locals in late 2012 that they had been persuaded by Lee and “a partner” to deposit cash in a “casino-based operation”. Lei said the “operation” was allegedly linked to VIP rooms in casinos in Zape and Cotai. Lei added that the “operation” was closed in November 2012 and Lee left Macau in 2013. Lei said that during the investigation, PJ officers found that Lee’s “operations” were not part of the VIP room operations.
Lei said that two of the victims said they had lost a total of HK$177 million in Lee’s purported deposit plan with an interest of 30 percent a year, while another victim deposited 20 million yuan (23.8 million patacas at the current exchange rate) in August of the same year with a purported 15-to-30-percent monthly interest rate. Lei noted that the victim successfully received 300,000 (357,500 patacas) to 600,000 yuan in “interest” in September and October respectively, but she was unable to retrieve the remaining investment fund after Lee’s business ended.
According to Lei, the fourth victim deposited HK$24.4 million in gambling winnings in Lee’s “casino-based operation”, attracted by its high interest rates, but lost all the money. Lei underlined that the four victims lost a total of over HK$226 million.
According to Lei, Lee was apprehended when he entered Macau through the Barrier Gate checkpoint on Friday. Lee denied the accusations and has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for follow-up investigation, facing fraud charges, said Lei, adding that Lee’s accomplice is still on the run.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei looks on during yesterday’s press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape. – Photo: William Chan
