Four men from the mainland were arrested on Sunday for robbing a man of a phone worth 13,700 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said during a special press conference yesterday.
Chong identified the suspects as a 40-year-old businessman surnamed Shi, a 34-year-old businessman surnamed Xu, a 28-year-old car salesman surnamed Zhang, and a 39-year-old businessman surnamed Wang.
According to Chong, the Judiciary Police (PJ) received a referral from the Public Security Police (PSP) on Sunday about a robbery at a casino in Cotai. A middle-aged male gambler from the mainland had pawned his phone on Saturday for HK$9,000 to obtain cash for gambling but, in the end, gambled away all the money. Later that evening, he met Shi at the casino, who offered to lend him HK$7,000 to help retrieve his phone and allowed him to stay in his guestroom for the night.
Chong noted that Xu, Zhang, and Wang entered the guestroom on Sunday afternoon. Shi then asked the gambler to pawn his phone again under the pretext of what they called “fund turnover.” The gambler refused, saying that he would, instead, have a friend transfer 15,000 yuan to him. Shi then claimed that he had not received the funds and accused the victim of defaulting. The four suspects then physically assaulted the gambler and seized his phone, valued at 13,700 patacas, before leaving the guestroom. The victim, who was slightly injured, sought help from hotel staff and reported the case to the police. Later that day, the police arrested the quartet in two guestrooms.
Under questioning, the suspects refused to cooperate.
All four suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing robbery charges.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the four hooded suspects to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
