Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson Ho Chan Nam said during a regular press conference yesterday that a man from the mainland has been arrested for his involvement in a deception case involving yuan “practice banknotes.”
Ho noted that this was the first instance where the police have busted fraudsters using practice notes in yuan, as previous cases involved Hong Kong dollar practice notes.
The suspect is a 32-year-old male surnamed Zhou. He told the police that he’s a businessman.
According to Ho, on Sunday Zhou’s male accomplice arranged a deal with a mainland male visitor at a Cotai hotel. The agreement entailed the victim handing HK$210,000 in casino chips to him and he was then to provide the victim with 200,000 yuan in cash in return. The victim gave the chips to Zhou’s accomplice who then gave the victim stacks of cash in a bag.
Ho noted that the victim did not check the money and left the scene. The fraudster also quickly left the casino, with Zhou who drove them away.
An hour later, the victim discovered that only the notes on the top and the bottom of the stacks were genuine, after which he reported the case to police. Zhou was arrested when he attempted to cash in the chips later that day.
Under questioning, Zhou refused to cooperate. At the time of yesterday afternoon’s press conference, the police were still investigating the whereabouts of Zhou’s accomplice, according to Ho.
Zhou has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, Ho said.
A practice banknote is generally similar in size, shape and colour to circulating banknotes. It is used for training bank tellers, cashiers and staff at currency exchanges, according to Wikipedia. Practice banknotes are not legal tender.
This undated photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) shows the yuan practice notes.
