The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a local resident for theft on Tuesday, PJ spokesman Cheong Un Hong said during a special press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 72-year-old male surnamed Wong, who told the police that he’s jobless.
According to Cheong, the Judiciary Police received a report from the owner and an employee of a repair shop in the peninsula’s northern district.
Cheong said that when the two victims opened their shop on the morning of Tuesday, they discovered that the shutter had been deliberately damaged with tools, resulting in a rectangular hole being cut out. The safe inside the shop had also been broken into, and all the cash inside – totalling 60,730 patacas – had vanished, Cheong said.
According to Cheong, an investigation revealed that at around 3 a.m. on October 28, Wong, used a hand-held circular saw to cut a hole in the shop’s security shutter, crawled through the opening to enter the premises and commit the crime. He left via the same route about an hour later. After stealing the cash, Wong immediately went to a casino and gambled away all the stolen money, Cheong said.
On Tuesday afternoon, PJ officers nabbed Wong at the Barrier Gate, seized the tool and clothing used for the crime from his residence.
Wong has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a charge of theft.
Police arrest Myanmar domestic helper for theft
Meanwhile, the Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a Myanmar domestic helper for theft on Tuesday, PJ spokesman Cheong Un Hong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 20-year-old female surnamed Mal.
According to Cheong, on Tuesday night, the Judiciary Police received a report from a local female that she suspected her domestic helper of stealing multiple gold items from the flat by exploiting her job, with eight gold items worth a total of 126,000 patacas disappearing.
Cheong said that the victim had for many years kept several gold items in a safe in her bedroom in Patane, with the safe key kept in a bag nearby. The victim had hired the woman as a live-in domestic helper in September 2023, Cheong said.
Last Saturday, according to Cheong, the victim discovered that eight gold items had vanished from the safe. Under questioning by the victim, Mal admitted to stealing three of the gold items worth 37,000 patacas and returned them to the victim. However, the victim confirmed that there were five more gold items worth 89,000 patacas that remained missing, and subsequently reported the matter to the police, Cheong said.
Cheong said that the investigation revealed that on a certain day in September, the domestic helper took advantage of her position to enter her employer’s bedroom and discovered the key to the safe and opened it. To avoid detection, she stole only some of the gold items and concealed the stolen goods in a drawer in another room of the flat, Cheong said.
According to Cheong, Mal refused to disclose the whereabouts of the remaining five gold items during the investigation. The Judiciary Police would continue to pursue the whereabouts of the missing gold items, Cheong said.
Mal has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a theft charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded repairshop theft suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Armindo Neves
