A mainland businesswoman surnamed Tian was arrested on Wednesday when entering Macau via the Barrier Gate checkpoint for stealing three casino chips worth HK$ 300,000 and HK$68,000 in cash from a male mainlander from the guestroom of a casino hotel in Cotai on December 31 last year, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday.
The victim in his fifties reported to the Judiciary Police on December 31 last year that the 34-year-old suspect, whom he had met for the first time in the casino on December 25, had stolen his three casino chips and all his Hong Kong dollar notes when he was asleep in her guestroom on December 30, which they had just started sharing, according to Leng.
A PJ investigation found that Tian left the guestroom on that day, intending to exchange the stolen chips for cash, but failed because she could not provide any gaming records to the casino, and then returned to the mainland.
Under questioning, Tian, who admitted to committing the crime, insisted that the chips had been cashed in the mainland. Tian also claimed that she had spent most of the stolen money on daily expenses and paying debts, said Leng, who added that the Judiciary Police recovered the remaining HK$56,000 she was carrying.
Tian was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing an aggravated theft charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded theft suspect to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
