Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said during a special press conference yesterday that two sisters from the mainland have been arrested for their involvement in a “practice banknote” deception case, swindling four victims from the mainland out of a total of 187,000 yuan (209,000 patacas) in online bank transfers.
The suspects surnamed Wang are aged 27 and 31. They told the police that they’re clerks. One of the victims works as an illegal currency exchange dealer in Macau, while the other three victims are gamblers.
According to Lou, the currency dealer arranged on Friday a deal between himself, the other three victims and the younger Wang at a hotel lobby in Cotai. The agreement entailed the victims transferring a total of 187,000 yuan to an account designated by Wang who was to provide the victims with HK$200,000 in cash in return. The currency dealer transferred the agreed amount to Wang through online banking. After Wang handed him two stacks of HK$1,000 banknotes, he discovered that they were all practice notes.
The victims reported the case to the police. While waiting, the 31-year-old Wang arrived at the scene to meet her sister. Police also discovered stacks of practice bank notes on the older Wang.
Under questioning, the two suspects said that they had been offered a “reward” of 6,000 yuan as an incentive for successfully completing the fraud.
The Wangs were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing fraud charges, Lou said.
A practice banknote is generally similar in size, shape and colour to circulating banknotes. It is used for training bank tellers, cashiers and staff at currency exchanges, according to Wikipedia. Practice banknotes are not legal tender.
The hooded fraud suspects from the mainland are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers to a PJ vehicle parked outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday.
– Photo: William Chan
