Ninety-six mainlanders were cheated by a local man in a job scam, incurring a total loss of 185,300 yuan (205,423 patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said during a special press conference on Friday.
According to Chong, the Judiciary Police received a separate report from seven male construction workers – six mainlanders and a local – separately about the scam between September and October, pointing out that the 35-year-old male suspect, whom they got to know on a job at a construction site between April and August, told them that he could get their relatives and friends from the mainland work at a construction site in Zone A, with a monthly salary of 18,000 patacas, asking them to pay him between 1,500 yuan to 3,000 yuan as an “introduction fee” and a “remuneration” of half of the first month’s salary. The victims told the police that their ex-colleague, surnamed Chang, promised them that “the job application could be completed within one to two months, or the introduction fee would be returned”.
Chong said that the seven victims who reported the case separately to the police had collected a total of 96 personal documents and 185,300-yuan “introduction fees” from their relatives and friends, which were then handed over to Chang, adding that as the victims had lost contact with Chang since September, they reported the case to the police.
Chang was arrested at his flat in the northern district on Thursday, Chong noted.
Under questioning, Chang admitted that he had cheated the victims, claiming that he had used the ill-gotten gains for gambling and paying his own debts, according to Chong, who added that PJ officers recovered the personal documents of the 96 victims from Chang’s flat.
Chang was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, facing a charge of fraud involving a considerably large amount of money.
The hooded local fraud suspect is escorted by police officers from the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape to a vehicle on Friday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
