The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a woman from the mainland on Tuesday for engaging in illegal currency exchange activities, PJ spokesman Chao Teng Hin said during a special press conference yesterday.
Chao identified the suspect as a 50-year-old female surnamed Wu who claimed to be jobless.
According to Chao, PJ officers on patrol in a casino in Zape on Tuesday saw Wu alongside a female gambler appearing to engage in an illegal currency exchange deal. The officers witnessed Wu displaying a QR code to the gambler before handing her HK$20,000 in cash. The police then intercepted the gambler as she attempted to place a bet after buying gaming chips worth HK$7,000. Wu was later apprehended in the casino.
Chao noted that Wu had exchanged HK$20,000 for 18,800 yuan with the gambler, earning 400 yuan from the deal. The police seized a mobile phone, HK$86,000 in cash and HK$5,700 in chips from Wu, along with the HK$7,000 in chips from the gambler.
Under questioning, Wu admitted to having engaged in illegal currency exchange activities since the beginning of August, claiming to have earned a total of 10,000 yuan.
Wu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing an illegal currency exchange charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded currency exchange suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
