A man from the mainland was arrested on Saturday for selling a counterfeit phone, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Wong Wai Chon said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Wong identified the suspect as a man surnamed Zhou, who is in his fifties.
According to Wong, the police received a report on Wednesday from a mainland man who had been sold a knockoff phone. The victim was walking along Rua Cidade de Sintra!（仙德麗街）when he was approached by Zhou. Zhou claimed to have gambled away all his money and offered to sell a phone he claimed to be worth approximately HK$10,000 for HK$6,000. The victim agreed and paid him HK$6,000 for the phone. They parted after the deal. However, when the victim tried to use the phone, he discovered that it had a rough appearance and an unusual interface. He suspected that the phone was a counterfeit and immediately reported the case to the police, which confirmed that the phone was a pirated product.
The police identified Zhou as the suspect through citywide CCTV surveillance and intercepted him in the departure hall of the local airport.
Under questioning, Zhou admitted to selling the replica phone to the victim. He told the police that he had purchased the phone on the mainland for 800 yuan, claiming that he had meanwhile gambled away the HK$6,000 received from the victim.
According to Wong, Zhou has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) and is facing a fraud charge.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows a PSP officer escorting the phoney phone suspect into a police station.
