A currency exchange dealer from the mainland was arrested on Monday for attacking and robbing another money changer, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai and Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheuk Kou Chi said at a special press conference yesterday.
The 40-year-old suspect surnamed Lo came to Macau on February 1 with another currency exchange dealer surnamed He and they shared a hotel guestroom in Zape. The victim surnamed Chao is also from the mainland.
According to Cheuk, Chao reported on Monday to the Public Security Police that he had been robbed. Officers who arrived at the hotel later saw that Chao had sustained head injuries. Chao told the police that earlier that day he and Lo struck a currency exchange deal on WeChat and they arranged to meet in Lo’s hotel guestroom in the afternoon.
In the hotel room, Chao showed HK$500,000 to Lo and the latter asked him to wait for a certain “gambler”. When Chao attempted to leave Lo’s room as the “gambler” did not show after 20 minutes, Lo suddenly struck him on the head with an ashtray several times, put him in a choke hold and demanded that he hand over the HK$500,000.
Chao was frightened and gave Lo the money, after which he locked himself in the room’s bathroom and reported the case to the police as soon as Lo had left the scene.
Lou said that the Judiciary Police then immediately launched an investigation. They saw Lo enter a pawnshop in Taipa when scrutinising their CCTV citywide camera system later that day, and discovered that Lo transferred HK$383,500 to his mainland account from the shop. Lo was arrested in front of a hotel in the city centre on the same day, and officers seized cash and casino chips worth HK$116,000 that he had on him.
Under questioning, Lo claimed that the money he had transferred to his mainland account as well as the HK$116,000 found on him had been given to him by He, his roommate. He was taken to a police station for questioning yesterday, where he testified that the money did not belong to him, claiming that Lo had only brought less than 100,000 yuan in cash to Macau.
The police managed to retrieve the HK$383,500 from the pawnshop, as well as cancel part of the transaction with the bank’s help.
Lo was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of robbery, coercion and causing bodily harm, Lou said.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai (centre), accompanied by an unidentified PJ investigator, as well as Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheuk Kou Chi look on during yesterday’s press conference at the PJ headquarters. –Photo: William Chan
