A man from the mainland has been arrested after robbing an illegal currency exchange dealer in a hotel room, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a special press conference yesterday.
The 45-year-old suspect surnamed Qiu told the police that he’s jobless. The victim got to know Qiu through a previous money exchange deal
According to Chan, Qiu contacted the victim on Monday night claiming that he needed to return to the mainland, and that he wanted to give the victim a bottle of expensive red wine. She believed him and went to Qiu’s hotel room.
According to Chan, victim decided to leave when Qiu made no attempt to give her the wine, during which Qiu became violent, held the victim down on the bed, wrapped sticky tape around her wrists and stuffed a towel in her mouth while threatening “money or life”.
Chan said that the victim complied and handed over HK$50,000 in cash and transferred 90,000 yuan (100,000 patacas) to Qiu’s bank account via her mobile phone. After Qiu fled the scene, the victim left the room and sought help from the hotel staff.
When reviewing the citywide CCTV surveillance system, police officers saw that Qiu was frequently travelling back and forth between the Macau peninsula and Taipa, as well as changing his clothing to evade detection. Qiu was arrested in a casino in Zape on Tuesday morning and seized HK$90,000 worth of casino chips from him. He denied the accusation, Chan noted.
Qiu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing a robbery charge, according to Chan.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded robbery suspect from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a PJ vehicle yesterday. – Photo: William Chan
Evidence seized from the mainland suspect such as casino chips and a towel is being displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters.
