A male hairdresser from the mainland has been arrested for hocking fake watches in three local pawn shops, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lei Chi Hou said at a regular press conference yesterday.
The 60-year-old suspect is surnamed Wu.
According to Lei, in July 2021 an employee of a pawnshop in Zape reported to the police that a watch pawned by Wu was found to be counterfeit. The police confirmed that the watch was indeed fake. Subsequently, the police discovered that Wu had also pawned two more watches in two other local pawnshops, and that all three watches were counterfeit. The three shops incurred a total loss of HK$140,000.
Wu was arrested when he re-entered Macau through the Barrier Gate checkpoint on Saturday. No fake watches were found on him.
Under questioning, Wu admitted to the crime. He claimed that he acquired the fake watches as gifts from friends and relatives, and told the police that he had gambled away all the ill-gotten money back in July 2021, before leaving Macau.
Wu has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing fraud charges, Lei said.
