In two separate cases, a Hong Kong visitor and a non-resident worker (NRW) from the mainland, both males, have been arrested for respectively stealing a smartphone and a shoulder bag containing 13,000 patacas, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lei Chan Hong said at a regular press conference yesterday.
In the first case, the suspect surnamed Ng is in his thirties. He told the police he works in the finance sector in Hong Kong.
According to Lei, the Public Security Police received a report from a man on August 3 that he had left a phone worth 12,700 patacas in a taxi earlier that day. The police then checked the taxi’s CCTV footage and discovered that Ng had picked up the phone during a ride. He was intercepted when he was entering Macau through the Taipa Ferry Terminal on November 4.
Under questioning, Ng admitted to stealing the phone out of greed. He claimed that he had discarded it in a rubbish bin in Hong Kong.
In the second case, the suspect surnamed Chen is in his fifties. He is a construction worker.
In that case, the police received a report from a local resident last Wednesday saying that he had left a shoulder bag containing 13,000 patacas in a shop in Iao Han district. After he realised that he had left the bag behind, he returned to the shop later and found the bag had vanished, so he reported the case to the police.
According to Lei, after scrutinising their citywide CCTV camera system, the police identified Chen and intercepted him in Zone A on the same day. Under questioning, he admitted to stealing the bag. Police retrieved the bag and the stolen cash.
The two suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing theft-by-finding charges, Lei said.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lei Chan Hong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference.
– Photo: William Chan
