A mainland woman was arrested at a hotel in Cotai on Thursday for stealing HK$2 million from a male non-resident worker (NRW) at his home in Taipa earlier that day, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference on Friday.
According to Leng, the 28-year-old suspect, who told the police she’s a saleswoman, is surnamed Li.
Leng said that the victim in his sixties from the mainland reported to the police on Thursday that Li, whom he had met online, contacted him on Wednesday, claiming that she had more than one million yuan in savings and wanted to buy a property in Macau for investment, requesting the victim exchange yuan into Hong Kong dollars.
The victim, who fell for Li’s lie, went to a bank in Macau with Li to withdraw HK$2 million on Wednesday morning, after which they returned to the victim’s home in Taipa, according to Leng, who added that Li stole the cash and fled while the victim was using the toilet.
Leng pointed out that a PJ investigation discovered that after stealing the HK$2 million, Li got in a vehicle en route to a hotel in Cotai, where she exchanged HK$1.9 million into yuan with the help of a male illegal currency exchange dealer from the mainland, who then transferred 1.69 million yuan to Li’s bank account in the mainland. Li used the remaining HK$100,000 for gambling and buying a necklace worth HK$25,000, Leng added.
PJ officers arrested Li at the hotel on Thursday afternoon and seized HK$500 in cash and the necklace from her, Leng said, adding that the officers also caught six illegal currency exchange dealers for exchanging part of the stolen money for Li.
The officers recovered a total of HK$1.67 million from the six currency exchange dealers, according to Leng, who added that Li and the sextet were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), where Li faces an aggravated theft charge.
Evidence seized from the theft suspect such as Hong Kong dollar notes and a necklace are displayed during Friday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. – Photo courtesy of TDM
