A mainlander was arrested on Sunday for allegedly allowing his friend to use four of his bank accounts which were then used for laundering money linked to a scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at the press conference yesterday.
The suspect surnamed Zhang is a 28-year-old chef.
According to Ho, a female local resident was scammed out of 1,500 patacas when attempting to buy a smart phone online in 2020, after which she saw an advertisement of a company on a social media claiming that the company could help victims recover defrauded money.
The victim believed it and transferred a total of 79,700 yuan (95,250 patacas) to four mainland bank accounts between August and October in 2020, but soon lost contact with the company staff and reported the case to the police.
The Judiciary Police identified the owner of the four bank accounts as Zhang.
When Zhang attempted to enter Macau via the Hengqin checkpoint on Sunday, he was arrested. Under questioning, he admitted to allowing his friend to use his bank accounts, who promised to pay him 1,200-yuan in return. He claimed that he did not know about the transactions and his friend never paid him the 1,200 yuan.
Zhang has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of money laundering and scamming, Ho said.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam looks on during a regular press conference yesterday.
– Photo: William Chan
