Two high-school students were arrested on Tuesday for their involvement in a blackmail case, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at a special press conference yesterday.
Ho said the 16-year-old suspect surnamed Liu studies in a school in Zape, while the 18-year-old suspect surnamed Cai studies in the mainland.
According to Ho, a local man in his thirties reported to the police that his 90-year-old grandfather had been blackmailed in a phone call on Monday. During the call, a man told him that his grandson had flirted with a married woman and had been involved in a fight. The fraudster demanded the victim pay 100,000 patacas as “compensation” and said that someone would go to his home in the northern district to collect the money.
Liu was arrested when he went to the victim’s home and collected the money the next day. PJ officers also saw a man, Cai, looking nervous and walking around the building. As Cai was leaving the scene, he was apprehended.
Under questioning, Liu said that he was “instructed” by a family member of his classmate to collect the money and take it to the mainland, adding that he was promised 5,000 patacas upon completing the delivery. Ho added that police officers suspect that Liu and Cai were hired to go to another victim’s home to collect money as well, but they refused to disclose the details of their next victim.
Cai and Liu were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing organised crime and fraud charges, according to Ho.
The age of criminal responsibility in Macau starts at 16.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the two hooded suspects from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday. – Photos: William Chan
Pataca notes and smart phones seized from the high-school suspects are displayed in a pressroom of the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday.
