A young local gambler was falsely imprisoned in a flat in the city centre by a loan shark for eight hours last Tuesday after he had failed to repay his gambling debt of HK$50,000, and only was able to escape due to a fire near the flat, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman said yesterday, adding that PJ officers arrested the 30-year-old mainland male suspect on Monday when he re-entered Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) checkpoint.
According to a PJ report, a woman reported last Tuesday that her brother was being kept in a flat against his will after he failed to repay his gambling debt, after which PJ officers found him in the evening of the same day in a casino in Zape.
The victim told PJ officers that he had obtained a loan of HK$50,000 from a loan-sharking gang for which he agreed to pay HK$5,000 in cash first and 20 percent interest on each winnings.
The spokesperson said that after the male victim gambled away all the borrowed money, he was held against his will in a flat that day until eight hours later when he took the opportunity to escape from the flat due to a fire that had broken out near the flat.
After he escaped from the flat, the victim went back to the casino to continue gambling, the spokesperson said, adding that at least three suspects were believed to be at large.
The suspect refused to cooperate with the PJ officers, and he was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of usury and illegal imprisonment.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference at the PJ headquarters. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
