A woman from the mainland has been arrested for stealing 40,000 yuan in cash she found on the street, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Wong Chi Weng said at a regular press conference yesterday.
The suspect surnamed Liu is in her sixties. She told the police that she’s jobless.
According to Wong, the police received a report from a local woman on Saturday saying that she had lost a black plastic bag containing 40,000 yuan while seeking shelter from the rain near the Barrier Gate checkpoint. After scrutinising their citywide CCTV camera system, the police identified Liu as the suspect who had picked up the money and arrested her the next day in a flat in the northern district.
Under questioning, the suspect admitted to finding the cash but denied retaining it for personal use. She claimed that due to the bad weather, she had not immediately handed over the money to the police and intended to do so at a later time.
Meanwhile, the police discovered that the flat where the suspect was staying was an unauthorised guesthouse. Inside, they found eight men and two women from the mainland who were renting bedspaces, paying either a daily rate of 100 patacas or a monthly rate of 900 patacas per bed. The rooms were being rented out for 1,800 to 2,000 patacas per month. The Macau Government Tourism Office has (MGTO) meanwhile sealed the premises, Wong noted.
The suspect has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a theft-by-finding charge, Wong said.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows a police officer escorting the mainland theft-by-finding suspect to the Northern District Police Station for questioning.
