The Judiciary Police (PJ) busted a HK$60 million illegal exchange operation run by a jewellery shop on Monday, arresting two female employees for illegal currency exchange activities, PJ spokesman Lei Chi Hou said during a special press conference yesterday.
Lei identified the suspects as a 27-year-old mainlander surnamed Mai and a 36-year-old local surnamed Ng.
According to Lei, the police received a tipoff about a jewellery shop in a hotel in Cotai operating an illegal currency exchange business. On Monday afternoon, officers discovered that Mai and Ng were engaged in an illegal currency exchange deal with a middle-aged male gambler from the mainland. Mai presented a QR code to the gambler, and after he completed the transaction using his smartphone, Ng took HK$5,000 (5,139 patacas) in cash from a handbag and handed it to the gambler.
Lei noted that after the gambler exchanged 4,660 yuan for HK$5,000 in cash, he immediately entered the casino and converted the Hong Kong dollars into chips for gambling. The police later intercepted the gambler in the casino and apprehended Mai and Ng at the shop. The police seized HK$500,000 in cash and a smartphone from the shop.
Lei added that the shop was licensed to sell watches and jewellery. However, Lei added, after one to two years of its opening, it began engaging in illegal money exchange activities. The two suspects, following the shop owner’s instructions, provided currency exchange services to customers and received additional “remuneration” in the form of “overtime pay”. Mai was employed in June 2024 with a monthly salary of 13,000 patacas, which included a base salary of 9,000 patacas, plus an additional 3,000 to 5,000 patacas as purported “overtime pay.” Ng was also hired around June 2024, with a monthly salary of 15,000 patacas, including a base salary of about 12,000 patacas and an additional 2,000 to 3,000 patacas in “overtime pay.”
The police have confirmed that the shop opened in 2019. Since the implementation of the Law Against Illegal Gambling Crimes, the shop had conducted illegal currency exchange activities amounting to HK$60 million, resulting in an illegal profit of HK$1 million.
The duo were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, each facing an illegal currency exchange charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the two hooded illegal currency exchange suspects to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
