A woman was cheated out of 6.7 million yuan (7.45 million patacas) in an online investment scam, while a man was arrested for money laundering and deception linked to the scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said during a regular press conference on Monday.
The 27-year-old suspect surnamed Leong worked as a waiter, while the victim surnamed Lao is 54 years old and told the police she’s jobless.
According to Lou, Lao attended an online investment course in October 2021 where the teacher of the course introduced her to an “investment expert”.
The “investment expert” suggested Lao buy shares from a mainland company after they had added each other as friends on a social media platform, Lou said, adding that she invested in the stock and earned a 50,000 yuan profit.
Totally trusting the “investment expert”, the victim later followed the scammer’s instructions and downloaded an app, which the “investment expert” claimed would provide “investment tips” as long as she paid money to the app.
According to Lou, Lao then transferred over 6.7 million yuan to multiple mainland bank accounts given by the “customer service” (CS) of the app in October 2021. When Lao requested her money back later on, the app’s CS refused. After losing contact with the “investment expert”, Lao finally sought help from the police.
During the investigation, the Judiciary Police identified Leong whom they assumed was linked to the scam due to his irregular bank transactions. Lou pointed out that Leong had transferred a total of 130,000 yuan, which the police tracked to coming from Lao’s bank account, from his bank account to multiple mainland bank accounts.
Leong was arrested on Friday, Lou said, adding that Leong denied the accusation and refused to cooperate.
Leong was taken to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing money laundering and fraud charges, according to Lou.
The Judiciary Police are still looking for other persons possibly involved and the whereabouts of Lao’s money, Lou added.
