A local man has been arrested for pawning a stolen watch for his friend, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a regular press conference on Monday.
The suspect surnamed Lio, who told police that he’s jobless, is in his thirties.
According to Lei, a pawnshop owner reported to the police on January 12 that one of his employees had embezzled a HK$40,000 watch and a HK$40,000 gold necklace last November. The victim claimed that the employee promised to return the money equal to the value of the items he had stolen, but soon the victim lost contact with his ex-employee, who he had fired immediately after discovering his embezzlement, and reported the incident to the police.
During the investigation, police discovered that Lio had hocked the stolen watch in a pawnshop in Nape for HK$25,000 on March 18 last year. Lio was intercepted near his flat in Estrada do Repouso last week.
Under questioning, Lio admitted pawning the watch for his friend even though he knew that it was a stolen item. Lio said that he had given all the money received from the pawnshop to his friend.
Lei said that Lio’s friend was still on the run at the time of the press conference.
Lio has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a charge of handling stolen goods, Lei said.
