A man from the mainland has been arrested for reporting a false case of theft to the police on Saturday, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said in a regular press conference yesterday.
The 41-year-old suspect surnamed Sun claimed to be jobless.
According to Cheong, Sun told the security department of a hotel on Saturday that his belongings, comprising HK$30,000 and 4,000 yuan in cash and HK$28,000 in gambling chips, had been stolen by the hotel’s cleaner from his guestroom. However, the police discovered that the facts did not align with his claim.
Sun had entered Macau that Saturday evening, checked into his guestroom, and immediately went to a casino to gamble. He had funds totalling HK$30,000 and 4,000 yuan in cash, along with HK$28,000 in chips, amounting to a total of HK$62,000. At around 11 p.m., he had gambled away all his cash and chips. Shortly after returning to his guestroom, he reported that a cleaning staff member had entered his guestroom and stolen all his money to the hotel’s security department, which later called the police.
After reviewing the surveillance footage and verifying the amount he had gambled, the police confirmed that the money Sun claimed had been “stolen” was actually gambled away by him. And there was no evidence suggesting that any cleaning staff had entered his guestroom. Cheong noted that Sun denied the crime during questioning.
Sun has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a charge of reporting a false case to the police. According to Article 330 of the Macau Penal Code he faces up to one year behind bars.
