A 23-year-old jobless Hong Kong man was arrested on Wednesday for his involvement in collecting 50,000 patacas from a male senior citizen who had fallen victim to a “guess who I am” scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said at a special press conference yesterday.
According to Chong, the Judiciary Police received a report from the victim about a loss of 50,000 patacas in a “guess who I am” scam on Tuesday, in which he had received a call on his landline from his “son-in-law”, who told him that he had attacked someone and been told to pay 50,000 patacas as compensation. Afterwards, Chong added, the victim handed over the money to a man, who was later identified as Leung, at his nearby home in the northern district.
Chong noted that PJ officers kept Leung under surveillance once he had entered Macau at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday via the Outer Harbour Terminal, and arrested him at 6:30 p.m. that day when he was about to leave Macau via the Pac On Ferry Terminal in Taipa.
Under questioning, according to Chong, Leung admitted that due to huge debts, he received HK$2,500 from a phone fraud gang to collect the victim’s money in Macau and take the money in cash back to Hong Kong. He also told the police that after receiving the 50,000-patacas in cash from the elderly victim on Tuesday, he exchanged the money into Hong Kong dollars at the Outer Harbour Terminal and handed over the money to a gang member in Hong Kong.
Leung was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of organised crime and fraud.
The hooded fraud suspect from Hong Kong is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday.
– Photo: Yuki Lei
