Four jobless mainlanders involved in illegal currency exchange deals were arrested, and a total of HK$2.35 million in cash, HK$66,700 in gambling chips and 3,300 yuan in cash were seized on Wednesday, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said in a special conference yesterday.
The four suspects comprise two men surnamed Cao and Liu, and two women surnamed Fan and Hu, and the PJ operation on Wednesday also caught a mainland gambler surnamed Ying who was overstaying, the spokesperson said.
PJ officers had received a tip-off recently that there was a group of illegal currency dealers operating in a casino in Cotai, the spokesperson said, adding that upon receiving the report, PJ officers went to a hotel room in the casino and found four currency exchange dealers and two gamblers there.
According to the spokesperson, Liu was banned from entering Macau for three years in February 2023 due to his involvement in illegal currency exchange deals, but he managed to enter Macau illegally in December last year,
Cao charged an overstaying gambler, Ying, HK$200 a day to stay in a hotel room with him and his three accomplices, the spokesperson said.
The four suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, with the four illegal currency dealers facing illegal currency exchange charges, while Cao faces an additional charge of aiding and abetting an overstayer. Liu’s illegal entry offence will be dealt with separately, the spokesperson said.
Evidence such as Hong Kong dollars in cash, smartphones is displayed at a PJ press conference room yesterday during a special press conference about the case. – Photos: Ginnie Liang
The four hooded mainland illegal currency exchange suspects are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape.
