A mainlander’s bank account has been frozen after exchanging Hong Kong dollars into yuan with an illegal currency exchange dealer at a casino in Cotai last month, resulting in a loss of 340,000 yuan, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a special press conference yesterday.
According to Lei, the victim is a woman from the mainland, and the suspect is a 43-year-old male mainlander surnamed Jiang who works as a driver.
According to Lei, last Thursday the victim wished to exchange HK$480,000 into yuan and deposit the amount into her mainland bank account. Therefore, the victim contacted an intermediary, after which Jiang met her in her hotel guestroom.
Jiang transferred 340,000 yuan and 102,800 yuan separately into the victim’s account. After the victim confirmed that the amount had been transferred to her account, she gave Jiang HK$480,000 in cash.
The victim received a notification from the bank the next day, informing her that a total of 340,000 yuan in her account involved fraudulent funds and, therefore, had been frozen by the bank, leading her to report the case to the police.
Jiang was arrested when he re-entered Macau through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge checkpoint on Tuesday. He refused to cooperate.
Jiang was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of fraud and money laundering, according to Lei.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded fraud suspect from the mainland from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a PJ vehicle yesterday. – Photo: William Chan
