Two men from the mainland were arrested for defrauding a mainland female gambler out of 374,000 yuan (419,880 patacas) in a counterfeit money scam on Saturday, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday.
The two suspects, aged 29 and 35, are surnamed Wu and Liang respectively, Leng added. Liang told the police that he’s jobless, whereas Wu worked as an illegal currency dealer.
According to Leng, the female victim contacted Wu on WeChat and arranged a meeting in her hotel guestroom on Saturday to exchange 374,000 yuan for HK$400,000. Upon transferring the money to Wu’s mainland bank account, Liang handed over four stacks of banknotes to the victim, Leng said.
The victim, concerned about the authenticity of the banknotes, demanded to have them checked at the casino cage together, Leng said. After the cage staff discovered 520 counterfeit HK$1,000 banknotes in the wads, they notified the casino’s security guards and PJ officers on duty at the casino to arrest the two suspects on the spot.
The Judiciary Police found another 780 fake HK$1,000 banknotes in Liang’s possession, totalling 1,300 counterfeit banknotes seized from the duo, Leng pointed out.
Liang claimed that he was only following orders from someone on WeChat to exchange the money. Both denied knowing that the banknotes were counterfeits.
The duo were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing fraud charges, Leng said.
The two hooded fraud suspects, Wu and Liang, are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday morning.
The fake HK dollar banknotes involved in the illegal currency exchange case are displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. – Photos: Leong Ian Kio
