Two men from the mainland have separately been arrested for their involvement in two currency exchange-related fraud cases, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said during a regular press conference yesterday.
In the first case, the suspect surnamed Dai is in his twenties. He told the police that he’s jobless.
According to Lei, the male victim first encountered Dai at a casino in Zape in late May. Dai proposed collaborating on a “money currency exchange business”, where the victim was to provide funds, while Dai was to find clients. The victim agreed to the arrangement.
Later, when communicating via a messaging app, Dai claimed that he had found a client who had already transferred the respective amount to the victim. Dai also sent him the purported receipt of the online transfer. Believing it to be genuine, the victim transferred 46,500 yuan to Dai.
Moments later, the victim realised that he had not received any funds and suspected the “receipt” to be fake. The victim then lost contact with Dai.
On Sunday in Zape, the victim met Dai by chance and took him to a Judiciary Police station. Under questioning, Dai admitted to the crime and claimed he had gambled away all the ill-gotten money.
In the second case, the 45-year-old suspect surnamed Li told the police he is a farmer.
According to Lei, on May 25, the victim and Li, who were friends and came to Macau together as visitors, engaged in a currency exchange deal in a hotel room in Cotai. The victim transferred 142,000 yuan to Li, who promised to pay him Hong Kong dollars in cash at a “favourable” exchange rate. However, Li continuously delayed the transfer, and the victim eventually lost contact with him, prompting him to report the case to the police.
Li was arrested at the local HK-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge checkpoint on Monday. He admitted to scamming the victim, claiming that he had gambled away all the ill-gotten money.
The two suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing fraud charges, Lei said, adding that Dai also faces a computer crime charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference.
– Photo: William Chan
