A local man was arrested on Tuesday for stealing 13 pieces of his wife’s gold jewellery, worth HK$180,000 and falsely reporting a crime claiming his flat in Coloane had been burgled, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leng said at a special press conference yesterday.
According to Chong, the 33-year-old suspect, surnamed Mak, works as a decorator.
Early Tuesday morning, according to Chong, Mak reported to the Public Security Police (PSP) that his wife’s gold jewellery worth HK$180,000 had been stolen. However, when Judiciary Police took over the case and investigated the flat, there was no evidence that the flat had been burgled or ransacked, Chong said, adding that during the investigation PJ officers saw that Mak appeared abnormally nervous, arousing the suspicion of the officers.
Chong said that under questioning Mak admitted that between April and July this year he had stolen the 13 items of gold jewellery from the 36-year-old victim on several occasions, and pawned them for HK$140,000 in pawn shops in Nape and Taipa, claiming that he had gambled away all the money obtained from the pawn shops.
Mak claimed he was afraid that his wife would discover that he had pawned her gold jewellery and gambled all the money away, so he reported a false theft case to the police and came up with the “story” of a burglary in the flat, according to Chong.
Mak was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, where he faces aggravated theft and fraud charges, Chong said, adding that the police has retrieved all the stolen gold jewellery from the pawn shops.
A total of 13 pieces of gold jewellery seized from the local suspect are displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Nape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
