Two men from the mainland have been arrested for robbing a female illegal currency exchange dealer at knifepoint in a hotel guestroom, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at a special press conference yesterday.
The 38-year-old suspect surnamed Xie told the police that he’s a businessman, while the 42-year-old suspect surnamed Lin told the police that he’s jobless. The victim is a non-local woman. They had struck a currency exchange deal last month.
According to Chan, on Tuesday the victim once again engaged in a currency exchange transaction with the two suspects in their hotel room in Zape. During the meeting, Xie suddenly held a knife to her neck and robbed her of casino chips worth HK$590,000. Following the incident, Lin immediately went to the casino to gamble, while Xie remained in the room, falsely imprisoning the victim.
Half an hour later, Lin returned to the room after gambling away all the chips. They then proceeded to rob the victim of an additional HK$1.12 million in cash. Shortly after, Lin gambled away all the loot.
Subsequently, Xie took the victim to the casino premises looking for Lin. During this time, the victim attempted to free herself and alerted nearby security guards. Police officers arrived at the scene and arrested the two suspects.
Under questioning, the duo refused to cooperate. The police found HK$20,000 on the duo.
Lin and Xie have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing robbery and falsely imprisonment charges.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the two hooded robbery suspects to a police vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: William Chan
