A man from the mainland has been arrested for using a fake watch as collateral to borrow HK$100,000 from a mainland woman, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during a regular press conference yesterday.
The 32-year-old suspect surnamed Li told the police he’s the owner of a car repair shop.
According to Ho, last month Li met the woman at a Cotai casino and they became friends. Later while gambling together, Li told the woman that he had gambled away all his money and asked her to lend him HK$50,000 for gambling, which the woman did.
After losing all the money again, he gave a watch to the woman as collateral, claiming that the watch was worth HK$100,000, and requested an additional HK$50,000 for gambling. Believing it to be genuine, the woman lent him money again.
The woman lost contact with Li a few days later. She then had the watch checked at a local pawnshop which confirmed that it was only worth a few hundred patacas, leading her to report the case to the police.
Li was arrested when he re-entered Macau through the Hengqin Port checkpoint on Tuesday. He refused to assist the police in their investigation.
Li has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, Ho said.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: William Chan
