An illegal currency exchange dealer was arrested on Thursday for defrauding two males out of 89,600 yuan (104,410 patacas) with fake money, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said at a press conference on Monday.
The 21-year-old jobless male suspect from the mainland is surnamed Pan.
According to Leng, the Public Security Police (PSP) referred a suspected false imprisonment case to the Judiciary Police on Thursday, in which a security guard of a Cotai hotel claimed that a male mainlander had been illegally detained by two men.
PJ officers who arrived at the scene found the two men holding Pan against his will because he had scammed them. The victims told PJ officers that they met the suspect in a hotel resort food court earlier that day as arranged after they struck a deal with him to exchange 89,600 yuan for HK$100,000 on a messenger app.
The victims then transferred the money from a mainland bank account to Pan’s bank account. Afterwards, Pan pretended to be “looking for” and “counting” money in his backpack. One of the victims became irritated, snatched the backpack and found two HK$1,000 notes printed with the Chinese phrase “Film props”.
Police officers found another 198 fake HK$1,000 notes in his backpack and arrested him. Under questioning, Pan admitted to defrauding the victims and claimed that a mainlander from Zhuhai had given him the fake notes and promised to pay him a weekly salary of 10,000 yuan.
Pan has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, according to Leng.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon looks on during a regular press conference on Monday.
– Photo: William Chan
