The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a local man for defrauding his mainland friend out of about HK$15 million by falsely claiming that he could make an easy profit through a casino chip exchange investment, a PJ spokesperson said at a special conference yesterday.
The spokesperson identified the suspect as a 41-year-old local man surnamed Chio, who told the police that he works in the finance industry.
According to the spokesperson, the victim reported to the Judiciary Police on Tuesday that he had been cheated by his friend who asked him to invest in a casino chip exchange business in January this year.
According to the spokesperson, Chio proposed his mainland friend invest HK$2 million in a casino chip exchange business, which would yield a profit of 50,000 yuan every month.
The victim believed his friend and transferred HK$2 million to the suspect’s bank account, the spokesperson said, after which the victim did receive a total of 125,000 yuan in February and March as the investment’s purported profit, the spokesperson said.
In mid-March, Chio suggested the victim increase his investment, claiming that if he invested a total of HK$15 million, a monthly profit of HK$400,000 would be guaranteed, the spokesperson said.
The suspect transferred another HK$13 million to Chio, but had been unable to contact the suspect ever since, the spokesperson said. Therefore, the man suspected that he had been cheated.
The police intercepted Chio on Wednesday when he was about to leave Macau via the Hengqin joint border checkpoint, and he confessed to the crime, the spokesperson said.
Under questioning, Chio admitted that he had defrauded the victim together with two accomplices, of which HK$4 million had already been gambled away, while the rest of the money was divided with his two partners in crime, while Chio received HK$1.5 million, which was used to pay off his gambling debts, the spokesperson said, adding that the victim’s investment was never used in any bona fide business activity.
At the time of the press conference, the police were still looking for the two fugitives.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded financier suspected of cheating HK$15 million in a purported casino chip exchange deal at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: PJ
