A Filipina was arrested on Tuesday for picking up a handbag that a female tourist had put on the ground while taking photos outside Santo António Church, which is located near Luís de Camões Garden, earlier that day, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lei Chan Hong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
After her arrest, the Philippine passport holder surnamed Balili, who is in her forties, claimed that she picked up the handbag as she thought that it had been “dumped” there by someone.
According to Lei, the female tourist put her handbag on the ground while taking photos with her friends in Largo de Santo António (花王堂前地), the roundabout outside Santo António Church, on Tuesday. After the photo taking, she found that her handbag had vanished, and then reported the case to the police at 5 p.m.
The tourist reported a total loss of 11,000 patacas, with the stolen possessions inside her handbag including a smartphone and headphones, Lei said.
After scrutinising the police forces’ citywide CCTV camera system, Lei said, PSP officers identified Balili as the thief, and arrested her in Praça de Luís de Camões (白鴿巢前地), the square outside Luís de Camões Garden (白鴿巢公園), at 9 p.m., i.e., four hours after the tourist reported the case.
Under questioning, Lei said, Balili told the police that she saw the handbag on the ground when walking past, admitting that she decided to pick it up with the intention of taking it as she thought, she claimed, that it had been “dumped” there by someone.
According to Lei, PSP officers later retrieved the handbag and it’s contents at the Filipina’s home.
Balili has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, facing a theft-by-finding charge.
Woman cheats gambler out of 93,800 yuan to repay debts
Meanwhile, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during yesterday’s regular press conference that a woman from the mainland defrauded a gambler out of 93,800 yuan on Wednesday when she told him that she could exchange yuan into HK dollars for him, after which they struck a deal, according to which he was to change 93,800 yuan into HK$100,000. The victim then made an online transfer of the yuan to the suspect, but actually she did not have any cash in HK dollars for the deal, merely intending to defraud him, Ho said.
After her arrest, the 39-year-old woman surnamed Li told the police that she works as a farmer in the mainland.
According to Ho, the case occurred at a casino-hotel resort in Cotai where the woman told the gambler to wait in the hotel lobby as she needed to get the HK dollars from her guestroom, after he had made the online transfer of the 93,800 yuan to her.
As the gambler thought that the woman was possibly attempting to defraud him, he followed her into the guestroom where he realised that she did not have any cash for the deal so he reported the case to the police.
Under questioning, Ho said, the woman told the police that she defrauded the gambler as she needed money to pay her debts in the mainland, adding that she had used all the ill-gotten 93,800 yuan to repay her debts.
Li has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, facing a charge of fraud involving an amount of over 30,000 patacas.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok (left) speaks during yesterday’s regular press conference as Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lei Chan Hong looks on. – Photo: Tony Wong
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows two PSP officers escorting the theft-by-finding suspect to the police station near the city centre, officially known as Praia Grande (Nam Van) Police Station.
