A woman from the mainland was arrested on Friday for investment fraud involving a casino VIP room and possession of a forged document, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lei Chi Hou said during a special press conference yesterday.
The 43-year-old suspect surnamed Liu claimed to be jobless.
According to Lei, a middle-aged woman from the mainland reported on December 30, 2024 that Liu tricked her into investing in a casino VIP room by promising high returns. The woman met Liu in the mainland in September 2023, and they became friends. In February 2024, Liu contacted her, claiming to be a shareholder of a casino VIP room. She persuaded the woman to invest in the VIP room and promised a 4.0 percent monthly return.
In May 2024, Liu took the woman to visit the VIP room to convince her that she was “indeed” a shareholder of the business. Starting in mid-May 2024, the woman began transferring a total of 1.544 million yuan (1.701 million patacas) to Liu’s account. She later received a purported return of 167,000 yuan. In late September 2024, the woman stopped receiving money from Liu and requested her money back but failed to receive any. Therefore, she reported the case to the police in December, saying that she had lost a total of 1.377 million yuan.
Liu was arrested at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge checkpoint when entering Macau on Friday, but she refused to cooperate. The police found a forged Hong Kong identity card on her. Liu told the police that she had purchased the forged ID online for about 1,000 yuan before coming to Macau but never showed it to the victim. She claimed that the forged ID was to convince her mainland friends that she had the ability to move to Hong Kong. The police confirmed that Liu was not a shareholder of the VIP club.
Liu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday where she faces charges of fraud and possession of a forged document.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
