Two women from Hong Kong were arrested on Thursday for theft by finding after stealing HK$612,000 that had been left in a taxi, according to Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Cheong Im Sim during a regular press conference yesterday.
The two suspects are a woman surnamed So, who is in her seventies, and her sister, who is in her sixties; both told the police that they are jobless.
According to Cheong, in the wee hours of January 17, the Public Security Police (PSP) received a report from a mainland man who said that he had dropped a bag containing HK$612,000 when he got out of a taxi which he shared with a friend from one hotel in Cotai to another. He returned to the drop-off point to search for the bag but couldn’t find it. Suspecting that someone had picked it up, he reported the case to the police the same day.
Cheong noted that through the citywide CCTV network and the taxi’s surveillance footage, the police identified So and her younger sister as the suspects. The police intercepted them at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge checkpoint on Thursday and seized HK$70,000 from them.
Under questioning, So admitted to taking the HK$612,000 out of greed and having given HK$200,000 to her sister. She told the police that part of the stolen money had already been spent, while the remaining cash was at her home in Hong Kong. So’s younger sister denied involvement in the crime.
The duo have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a charge of theft by finding, according to Cheong.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows PSP officers escorting the two suspects into a police station.
