A local woman was cheated by a former jewellery shop owner out of a luxury-brand watch worth 168,000 patacas that she had entrusted him for repairs, according to a special press conference yesterday hosted by Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong.
Chong said that the 43-year-old local male suspect, who told the police that he is unemployed, is surnamed Chan.
In March this year, Chong said, the Judiciary Police received a report from the victim, saying that she had lost contact with Chan, from whose shop on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro she had bought a luxury-brand watch in June 2016 and entrusted it back to him for repairs in September 2019. The victim told the police that after receiving the watch, Chan delayed returning the watch under various pretexts such as lack of parts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The victim reported a loss of 173,000 patacas as the watch has meanwhile appreciated, according to Chong.
Chan, who was arrested when entering Macau via the Barrier Gate border checkpoint on Wednesday, admitted to committing the crime, claiming that he had long pawned the watch he defrauded from the victim for about 150,000 patacas, which he then used to pay off debts.
Chan told the police that his shop had already shut down when the victim contacted him via WeChat in 2019 about the repairs.
Chong noted that Chan was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing a charge of fraud involving a considerably large amount of money and abuse of trust.
The hooded local fraud suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
