Three Hong Kong men and a Hong Kong woman were instructed by a “guess who I am” telecom fraud gang to come to Macau to pick up cash from elderly victims, Judiciary Police (PJ) investigator Lei Chi Wai said at a special press conference yesterday.
According to Lei, an elderly man reported to the police last September that he received calls from a man claiming to be his “son-in-law”, telling him that he had been arrested for beating someone up and requesting he hand HK$150,000 in cash as compensation to a “lawyer”.
The victim handed the money to a man, one of the suspects surnamed Che who is 23 years old, on the ground floor of his residential building in the city centre. The victim later realised that he had been defrauded and reported the case to the police.
PJ officers reviewed CCTV footage near the victim’s home and identified Che as the suspect. After the scam, Che returned to Hong Kong with the victim’s cash. Che works as a part-time lifeguard.
Che re-entered Macau on Monday and was placed under surveillance. Police later discovered that Che had contacted two accomplices – one acting as a driver and the other as a lookout – and they attempted to collect fraud money from an elderly couple. However, they failed when the couple requested a receipt, which the gang could not provide.
The Judiciary Police arrested the trio later that day, along with another accomplice who ensured that the trio did not “embezzle” the fraud money. Under questioning, the suspects admitted to the crime, telling the police that they were promised a “commission” ranging from HK$500 to HK$20,000 for their involvement.
The quartet were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, where they face charges of organised crime and fraud.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the four hooded fraud gang suspects from Hong Kong to a police vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: William Chan
