A male Filipino non-resident worker (NRW) has been arrested for scamming a local woman in her seventies twice, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said during a special press conference yesterday.
The 29-year-old suspect surnamed Santillan works as a cleaner.
According to Lou, the victim met a man who claimed to be an “ethnic Chinese oil business owner from the United States” on a social media platform in August last year and the two quickly became a virtual couple. Last October, the scammer claimed to be in need of financial assistance and successfully persuaded the victim to lend him 60,000 patacas. She then lost contact with the scammer and reported the case to the police.
In May this year, the victim encountered another man on social media who gained her trust. In August, he claimed to facilitate an online transfer of US$2.4 million (19.3 million patacas) to the victim’s account, with the condition that she paid 100,000 patacas as purported taxes for the withdrawal. Believing the scammer’s story, the victim transferred the requested amount to the scammer’s bank account. However, she soon discovered that it was yet another fraudulent scheme and reported the case to the police.
The police identified two suspects who were found to be in possession of the bank accounts where the scammed money had been transferred. Lou noted that one of the suspects had already fled Macau, while they apprehended Santillan on Monday at his workplace.
Under questioning, Santillan claimed that he had opened the bank account and collected the funds as instructed by his girlfriend, who had fled to the Philippines. He claimed to have already transferred the entire amount to his girlfriend to purchase a property there. Santillan denied any involvement in the scam and refused to assist in the investigation.
Santillan was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing fraud charges, Lou said, adding that the police are still investigating other potential victims.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded fraud suspect to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters yesterday. – Photo: William Chan
