Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said during a regular press conference on Wednesday that a mainland middle school student has been arrested for his involvement in a “practice banknote” deception case, scamming the victim out of 139,000 yuan (157,000 patacas) during an illegal money exchange activity.
The suspect is a 16-year-old boy surnamed Jian. The victim is a mainland man working illegally as a currency exchange dealer, according to Chong.
According to Chong, on Tuesday the victim arranged a deal with the suspect online and made an appointment in the lobby of a Cotai hotel to exchange money.
The victim transferred 139,000 yuan to an account designated by the suspect, while the suspect handed over three stacks of cash to the victim in return, Chong said.
The victim later realised that all of the banknotes were practice banknotes, and promptly reported the incident to the police. Subsequently, Jian was apprehended at the hotel. Police seized more than 300 practice notes each of which had a face value of HK$500 from Jian, Chong said.
Under questioning, Jian claimed that he had been hired by “someone” from the mainland to carry out the scam in Macau. He also said that he had been promised a “commission” of 3,000 yuan if he had successfully completed the deal, Chong said.
Jian has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, Chong 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.
