A young gambler visiting Macau was falsely imprisoned at a flat in the city centre by a loan shark for 37 hours after he had failed to repay his gambling debts of HK$50,000, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said yesterday, adding that PJ officers arrested a 22-year-old mainland man on Saturday when he re-entered Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) checkpoint.
According to a PJ report, at around 1 a.m. on November 5 last year, the victim asked for a loan of HK$40,000 from a loan-sharking gang during his visit to Macau after he agreed to repay HK$50,000 and 20 percent interest on each win, Chan said during yesterday’s special press conference about the case, adding that after the male victim gambled away all the borrowed money, he was falsely imprisoned at 7 a.m. that day until the next day when his relatives and friends repaid the money he had owed the loan shark.
After he was freed, the victim reported the case to the police, saying that he was attacked during his 37-hour false imprisonment, Ho noted.
The Judiciary Police arrested the suspect surnamed Liang at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, who told the police under questioning that had been paid HK$250 to assist the gang in keeping the victim at the flat.
Liang was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of usury, illegal imprisonment, and causing bodily harm.
The hooded loan-sharking suspect from the mainland is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a police vehicle in Zape after yesterday’s special press conference. – Photo: Yuki Lei
