A man from the mainland has been arrested for his involvement in an online currency exchange scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a press conference on Monday.
The 41-year-old suspect surnamed Yeh is a hairdresser. The victim was a local man in his thirties.
According to Lou, the victim was introduced to a WeChat user named “Lung Ng” [龍五] by his friend in early January, after which they stuck a deal to exchange NT$400,000 (107,690 patacas) into HK$100,290 in cash. The victim and “Lung Ng” arranged to meet at a place in the northern district on January 4, during which the victim gave a man – possibly “Lung Ng”- his money.
The victim reported the case to the police soon after he had lost contact with “Lung Ng”. According to Lou, after scrutinising their CCTV citywide camera system, the police identified Yeh as the suspect and arrested him when he entered Macau via the Barrier Gate checkpoint on Thursday.
Under questioning, Yeh claimed that “Lung Ng” promised to pay him 1,800 yuan (2,150 patacas) after “collecting” the money from the victim for him. Yeh added that “Lung Ng” also reminded him to cover his face and avoid the CCTV cameras when he met the victim.
Yeh has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, Lou said.
