The Judiciary Police (PJ) have uncovered three street deception cases involving the use of so-called high-tech electronic components to defraud passers-by, resulting in the arrest of three mainland men, including a fugitive who cheated a female senior citizen out of HK$55,000 in 2017.
PJ spokesman Cheong Kim Fong announced yesterday the arrest of the three suspects – a 60-year-old surnamed Zeng; a 58-year-old surnamed Wei; and a 58-year-old surnamed Zu. According to Cheong, Zeng had persuaded a local senior citizen to watch some goods for him in Avenida da Praia Grande (南灣大馬路) in 2017 by offering her a few hundred patacas as “commission”, during which his accomplices played the role of passers-by who were willing to acquire the so-called high-tech electronic components at a high price, tricking the victim into buying the items for HK$55,000 from Zeng. Cheong added that another mainland man was then arrested in connection with the case, while Zeng vanished that time.
It was not until Tuesday that Zeng re-entered Macau and, together with Wei and Zhu, attempted to cheat, separately, two more female senior citizens out of HK$160,000 in the Fai Chi Kei neighbourhood using the same modus operandi, according to Cheong, who noted that the two victims did not suffer any financial loss as one of them did not have enough money with her when she was persuaded by the suspects to acquire 800 high-tech electronic components, while the other grew suspicious of their approach.
The Judiciary Police arrested, according to Cheong, the trio separately at a hotel guestroom in the city centre and at the Barrier Gate checkpoint on Wednesday morning. Under questioning, Zu and Wei admitted to committing the offences, while Zeng refused to cooperate with the police.
The three suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of organised crime and fraud involving a large sum of money.
The three hooded mainland men suspected of organised crime and fraud are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a police vehicle in Zape yesterday. – Photo: MPDG
