A mainland man cheated a male gambler from the mainland out of HK$175,000 in a chip-cash exchange scam last month, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said at a regular press conference yesterday.
According to the press conference, the Judiciary Police (PJ) received a referral from the Public Security Police (PSP) early Friday about a fraud case, in which the male victim told the police that he and the 48-year-old suspect surnamed Xu met again at a hotel in Cotai last month after their first encounter at a local casino last year.
The victim invited the suspect to stay with him in his hotel guestroom in Cotai, during which the suspect told the victim that he could help him “convert” a casino chip worth HK$175,000 into 164,000 yuan and remit the money to his mainland account, so the victim handed over the chip to the suspect to carry out the exchange. However, the victim told the police that he never received the money from the suspect.
Chong noted that the victim met the suspect by chance once again at a hotel in Cotai on Thursday when they had an argument over the matter and alerted PSP officers on duty nearby.
Under PJ questioning, Xu admitted that he was “unable” to “covert” the chip into yuan for the victim, claiming to have gambled away all the fraudulently obtained money.
According to Chong, the Judiciary Police transferred Xu to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Saturday, facing a fraud charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference at the Public Security Police (PSP) press room in Zape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
