Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Lai In Hon announced yesterday the arrest of a mainland man in late March, who fraudulently obtained a local work permit (colloquially known as blue card) through a fake employment contract so that he could engage in surrogate shopping in Macau.
According to Lai, a PSP investigation showed that the suspect surnamed He had been entering and exiting Macau several times a day for a period of time, and each time he only stayed in Macau for two to three hours, which was inconsistent with the nature of working as a grocery assistant. The investigation discovered that He obtained his blue card in November last year as a grocery assistant but had never worked for the shop in the peninsula, nor its branch in Taipa.
Lai noted that the 30-year-old suspect holding an Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) travel permit for entering Macau was arrested in late March when he returned to Macau via the Barrier Gate checkpoint.
Under questioning, He admitted to obtaining the blue card through a false employment contract in order to facilitate his activities in Macau as a surrogate shopper, insisting that he had been advised by a friend – a female employee of the grocery shop surnamed Ao – to apply to work in the shop via a labour company in Zhuhai in October last year, without having to pay any fees in the process.
The Public Security Police, Lai said during a regular press conference yesterday, between late March and early April four locals aged 36 and 48 were summoned to a police station for questioning, during which the shop’s male licence holder surnamed Chan claimed that he was only responsible for signing documents, while the relevant recruitment work was handled by a female co-owner surnamed Chan and another female employee surnamed Chu, as well as Ao.
Lai added that according to a follow-up investigation, Ao and He were acquainted, while the female Chan agreed to employ He following Ao’s recommendation, after which Chu applied for He’s blue card and handed the relevant documents to the male Chan to sign.
Lai noted that the five suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, where they face charges of involvement in arranging fake employment.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows the surrogate shopper from the mainland suspected of fake employment in Macau being escorted by a PSP officer to a vehicle near the Barrier Gate checkpoint.
