The Judiciary Police (PJ) apprehended a fraud gang on Saturday, arresting four men from the Chinese mainland for using counterfeit chips to defraud three gamblers out of HK$210,000, PJ spokesman Cheong Siu Keong said during a special press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspects as a 35-year-old male surnamed Lin, a 22-year-old male surnamed Jiang, a 35-year-old male surnamed Zhu, and a 35-year-old male surnamed Zhou, all of whom claimed to be jobless.
According to Cheong, the police received a report from a casino in Cotai on Saturday about a suspected fraud case. Lin used counterfeit chips while exchanging seven chips worth HK$10,000 each with a male gambler. An argument ensued, which alerted casino security personnel. Meanwhile, the police received two additional reports from two other casinos in Cotai about two male gamblers attempting to exchange eight and 10 chips, respectively, each worth HK$10,000, which were also found to be counterfeit. The police intercepted Jiang and Zhu separately at the casinos.
Cheong noted that Lin, Jiang, and Zhu were acting under the direction of the same gang, which included their accomplice, Zhou. The police later apprehended Zhou at the Barrier Gate checkpoint that evening as he was attempting to leave Macau en route to the Chinese mainland.
Cheong mentioned that the gang had been operating for no less than two months, consisting of at least six members. The four suspects were recruited by higher-level members in the Chinese mainland in late November 2025. They all entered Macau on Saturday via the Barrier Gate checkpoint as instructed, having been informed of where to acquire counterfeit chips, before proceeding to the three casinos to defraud gamblers.
The police seized a total of 107 counterfeit chips from the four suspects, along with 21 chips recovered from the three victims. Cheong said that the counterfeit chips closely resembled genuine chips in both appearance and weight, making them difficult to distinguish. He added that these chips were from the same batch as those uncovered in a similar fraud case in January 2025.
The four suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of fraud and their involvement in a criminal syndicate.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the four hooded fraud suspects to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
