The Judiciary Police (PJ) have busted a number of “pig-butchering scams” involving at least 28 victims – nine males and 16 females, with a total loss of about HK$25 million, PJ spokesman Lei Chi Hou said during a special press conference on Saturday.
According to the TechTarget website, a pig butchering scam is a long-term fraud that combines investment schemes, romance scams and cryptocurrency fraud. This kind of scam originated in Southeast Asia, and the name originates from the Chinese term directly translated into English as “pig butchering”.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police received reports from five local residents separately between late last month and early this month, indicating that they have separately fallen for pig-butchering scams, in which they had joined a chat group on social media to receive “investing tips”, and later under the instruction of the “investment assistant” in the chat group, each invested hundreds of thousands to millions of Hong Kong dollars in a counterfeit “investment company” by depositing the money into 13 local bank accounts through a designated mobile app. Lei quoted the victims as saying that each had successfully withdrawn hundreds to thousands of Hong Kong dollars at the beginning, so as persuaded by the “investment assistant”, they deposited more money in the mobile app.
The five victims reported the case to the police after they discovered that they were unable to get their “principal” back from the app, Lei said, pointing out that after an in-depth investigation, the Judiciary Police found that there were 23 potential victims, whose remittance had been stopped by local banks’ staff, involving more than HK$1 million.
Lei noted that a PJ investigation confirmed that after the victims deposited the money into the 13 local bank accounts, the money was then transferred to more than 10 bank accounts outside Macau and withdrawn.
The Judiciary Police later identified and arrested seven men – two mainlanders and five locals – separately on Thursday and Friday at various districts and checkpoints in Macau, Lei said, adding that the seven suspects, aged between 26 and 34, are surnamed Lin, Su, Lam, Mak, Leong, Chan and Wong.
According to Lei, PJ officers arrested Lin at the checkpoint of the Pac On Ferry Terminal in Taipa on Thursday for receiving HK$9.5 million in his bank account. Under questioning, Lin claimed that he had been “hired” by a criminal mainland gang in late July to enter Macau, adding that during his stay in Macau, he had opened three bank accounts with the two insurance policies that he had bought in the city. Lin told the police that he had received 14,000 yuan in return after handing over the bank account details to the gang.
PJ officers arrested the remaining six suspects, including five insurance brokers, separately in various local districts, such as at the Qingmao checkpoint and the Outer Harbour Terminal, according to Lei, who said that some admitted that they had assisted dozens of mainlanders to purchase insurance policies and open bank accounts in Macau between January to September this year. The suspects told the police they knew that the bank accounts were used to collect fraudulently obtained money, adding that they had been paid between 2,000 yuan and 70,000 yuan each.
Su told the police that that he had added a stranger as a chat app’s “friend”, who persuaded him to provide his bank account details, adding that due to financial difficulties, he had handed over 230,000 patacas to a man in Nape as instructed and received 3,450 yuan in return.
The seven suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Saturday, facing charges of organised crime, money laundering and fraud involving a considerably large amount of money, Lei noted.
The seven hooded fraud suspects are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
