A man from the mainland was arrested on Monday for committing in illegal currency exchange activities, fraud and money laundering, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chao Teng Hin said during a regular press conference yesterday.
The 18-year-old suspect surnamed Pan claimed to be jobless.
According to Chao, a young woman from the mainland wanted to transfer her casino winnings to the mainland. She contacted Pan via WeChat on Friday to arrange an illegal currency exchange deal after being introduced to Pan by a friend. They met in a hotel in Cotai for the deal, and both agreed to exchange HK$167,000 (171,580 patacas) into 157,000 yuan. The woman gave Pan her bank account details for him to transfer the money and handed over HK$167,000 after confirming that she had received the 157,000 yuan. They left the hotel after the deal.
The next day, the woman discovered that her account had been frozen. She contacted the mainland bank, which informed her that her account remained frozen due to receiving illicit funds. The woman thought that she had been scammed and reported the incident to the police right away.
The police arrested Pan at a hotel in Cotai on Monday. Under questioning, he denied the crime and refused to cooperate. He only admitted to having engaged in illegal currency exchange activities twice this month, involving HK$420,000 in total.
According to Chao, Pan has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) and is facing charges of illegal currency exchange, fraud, and money laundering.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chao Teng Hin looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
