A local jobless man purporting to be a local casino’s financial director cheated his two male mainland friends out of about 230,000-yuan (270,526 patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Lon said during a regular press conference on Friday.
Chong said that the suspect, surnamed Wong, is aged 56, while the two victims who work as chefs in the mainland are aged 51 and 40.
Chong said that the two victims reported to the Judiciary Police that through the introduction of a friend in 2008, the duo met Wong, who purported to be the “financial director” of a casino in Nape, claimed that he could arrange for them to work as a “chef” and “sous-chef” respectively in the casino restaurant, but they would have to pay him two months’ salary each as the “referral fee”. Afterwards, Chong added that expecting a “high salary”, the duo were eager to work in Macau so they paid 126,000 yuan and 103,000 yuan each to Wong in 2019. However, after receiving the money, Wong used the purported impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy as an excuse to tell the duo that they could not get the promised jobs for the time being. Eventually, both lost contact with Wong, according to Chong.
The Judiciary Police identified Wong as the suspect and arrested him on Tuesday when he entered Macau through the Barrier Gate checkpoint, Chong said, adding that Wong denied committing the crime and insisted that the money he received from the victims were debts both owed him.
According to the Judiciary Police, Wong had previously worked as a casino clerk, but never in a “leadership” role, Chong pointed out, adding that he has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge involving a considerably large amount of money.
