A Hong Kong woman has been arrested for switching a genuine necklace with a fake one at a jewellery shop in the city centre, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a regular press conference on Monday.
The suspect, surnamed Chow, is a 34-year-old clinic employee.
According to Lou, on March 12 the police received a report from the person in charge of the jewellery shop, saying that a gold necklace worth 37,300 patacas had been swapped with a fake one.
After checking the CCTV footage, the police confirmed that a woman, Chow, had tried on the gold necklace in the shop that afternoon and taken the opportunity to switch it with a fake one while the sales assistant was distracted. Lou noted that after Chow left the stop, she immediately returned to Hong Kong.
Chow was caught when she entered Macau through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge checkpoint on Friday. Under questioning, she admitted to the crime and said that she had taken the necklace to Hong Kong.
Chow has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing an aggravated theft charge, according to Lou.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai looks on during Monday’s regular press conference.
– Photo: William Chan
