Two men have separately been arrested for currency exchange related fraud.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Kong Chi Ian yesterday identified the suspect in the first case as a local man surnamed Chan who is in his thirties. He works in the service sector.
According to Kong, in April a woman reported to the police that her friend, Chan, had defrauded her. During their online conversations, Chan claimed that he could help her exchange yuan. They then agreed to exchange 5,000 patacas for 4,570 yuan.
The victim transferred the money to Chan’s bank account but never received the agreed amount in yuan, eventually losing contact with the suspect.
Chan was intercepted in the city centre on Saturday. Under questioning, he told the police that he committed the fraud out of greed.
In the second case, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei identified a 26-year-old male surnamed Han, who told the police that he’s a businessman, as the suspect.
According to Lei, Han and a male illegal currency exchange dealer struck a deal outside a Cotai hotel on Thursday. Han transferred 37,600 yuan to the dealer’s bank account, expecting HK$40,000 in return. Han later showed the dealer a purported screenshot of the transfer, convincing him to hand over the cash.
Later, the victim discovered that the agreed amount of money had not been transferred to his bank account, suspecting the bank transfer screenshot was fake. He reported the case to the police.
Han was arrested in a Cotai casino on Saturday. Under questioning, he admitted to the fraud and claimed that he had gambled and spent all the ill-gotten money.
The two suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing fraud charges. Han also faces a charge of computer forgery, Lei said.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows police officers escorting the local fraud suspect to a police station.
