Two jobless Hongkongers were arrested separately at two pawnshops in Zape on Wednesday when they were hocking counterfeit luxury-brand watches, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said at a special press conference on Friday.
Leng said that the male suspect, aged 50, is surnamed Lai, while the female suspect, aged 44, is surnamed Wan.
According to Leng, Lai, who used a fake identity card, cheated two pawnshops out of a total of HK$130,000 last Monday with two bogus luxury-brand watches, after which he left Macau through the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal using his original ID.
On Wednesday, PJ officers discovered that Lai arrived in Macau with Wan via the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, so the officers put the duo under surveillance and arrested them separately in Zape when they were using the same tactic to defraud pawnshops, Leng said, adding that in the operation, the officers seized three fake deluxe watches and two bogus Hong Kong ID cards on the two suspects.
Leng said that under questioning, Wan admitted that she had received HK$10,000 from Lai to assist him in committing the crime, while Lai refused to cooperate with the police.
Leng pointed out that if the three watches had been genuine, they could be pawned for HK$180,000 in total.
Wan and Lai were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, facing charges of document forgery and fraud involving a considerably large amount of money.
The hooded fraud suspects from Hong Kong are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle on Friday. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
