A local woman was caught on Monday for scamming three men out of 98,200 patacas by claiming that she could arrange currency exchange deals for them, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during yesterday’s special conference.
Leng said that the 31-year-old suspect surnamed Ieong told the police that she owns an engineering company. Leng added that Ieong had been arrested for committing the same criminal offence in November last year.
Leng did not elaborate on whether Ieong had been charged with that offence.
According to Leng, three men reported separately to the police in September and October that between July and September they received a message on social media from their friend, Ieong, claiming that she could arrange currency exchange deals for them, with every 10,000 yuan (11,300 patacas) exchanged Ieong would give them 100 yuan more than the normal rate.
Leng said the victims noted that their initial deals had gone smoothly, and they separately approached Ieong again in early September for another deal, giving her a total of 98,200 patacas. However, Ieong kept coming up with excuses to delay the payment, and eventually the victims lost contact with her.
Ieong was arrested in her flat in Zape on Monday. Under questioning, she admitted scamming the victims and claimed that she had already spent all the money on daily expenses.
Ieong was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing a charge of fraud involving a considerable amount of money, according to Leng.
The female suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle yesterday. – Photo: William Chan
