Three local jobless men who are suspected members of a cross-border telecom fraud gang composed of mainland and Macau residents were arrested separately at their homes on Wednesday for their alleged connection to money laundering involving about 726,700 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said during a special press conference yesterday.
Lou said that the three suspects, aged 33, 28 and 25, are surnamed Loi, Wan and Choi respectively.
The Judiciary Police were notified by the Public Security Ministry’s National Anti-Fraud Centre last Wednesday about a telecom scam, in which a member of a gang purporting to be the leader of a company in Shenzhen tricked the company’s staff into transferring 1.4 million yuan through communication software, according to Lou, who noted that when the mainland police traced the whereabouts of the fraudulent funds, they found that about 986,000 yuan (1.1 million patacas) had been transferred to Macau through bank transactions.
Lou said that a PJ investigation identified the local trio and a mainland man surnamed Li as the suspects, who laundered about 726,700 patacas of fraudulent funds by buying pieces of jewellery and luxury watches in Macau last Wednesday with a bank card that was used to collect their victim’s money. He added that Li was arrested by the mainland police at a high-speed railway station in Shenzhen the next day, while Loi, Wan and Choi were arrested by PJ officers on Wednesday at their respective homes in Macau, where the officers seized a total of 750,000 patacas in cash, as well as items related to the case, including a car.
Lou said that the trio refused to cooperate with the police and denied committing the offence.
According to the PJ investigation, the police believe that Wan was tasked with driving Li, who came to Macau to launder money, while Loi and Choi were lookouts outside two jewellery shops in the city centre when Li was committing the crime.
The three suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of organised crime, money laundering and fraud involving a considerable amount of money, according to Lou, who added that as Wan was banned from driving for negligent homicide in March due to a serious traffic accident resulting in death, he also faces charges of aggravated disobedience and driving while banned.
Lou said that the Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation.
Evidence seized from the three local money-laundering suspects such as pataca and baht notes, mobile phones and luxury watches and items of jewellery is displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
