The Judiciary Police (PJ) nabbed a male gambler for making a false accusation and six males for illegal currency exchange activities on Thursday, PJ spokesman Cheong Siu Keong said during a special press conference on Friday.
The septet are from the Chinese mainland.
Cheong identified the false accuser as a 33-year-old driver surnamed Hou. The six illegal currency exchange dealers are aged between 27 and 45, one surnamed Li, one surnamed Yang, two surnamed Zhang and two surnamed Zhong, neither the Zhangs nor the Zhongs are related, according to Cheong, who also said that the six told the police that they are unemployed, seamen, farmers, and construction workers. He added that one of the dealers was a victim of Hou’s false accusation, Cheong said.
On Wednesday night, according to Cheong, Hou, who had gambled away all his money, approached an illegal exchange dealer outside a casino in Cotai, falsely claiming he wanted to exchange HK$60,000 in chips for gambling. After receiving the chips, Hou immediately attempted to run away but was intercepted by the victim (one of the six illegal currency exchange dealers) who managed to retrieve the chips, Cheong said. Following the failed theft attempt, Hou then falsely reported to the police that he had been robbed.
While investigating the alleged theft attempt, Cheong said that PJ officers found the victim and five other mainland Chinese men in a hotel room early Thursday morning.
According to Cheong, PJ officers discovered that the six were involved in illegal currency exchange activities, having operated in Macau since July of last year. One of them repeatedly assisted in attracting gamblers to the gang’s illegal currency exchange “services”, while the other five were conducting the transactions ranging from several dozen to over a hundred times, earning a profit of HK$70 to HK$100 for every HK$10,000 illegally exchanged, Cheong said, adding that each of them claimed to have made a profit of less than HK$15,000 in total.
According to Cheong, PJ officers seized HK$111,000 in cash, HK$270,000 in gambling chips and multiple mobile phones from the six suspects.
The seven mainlanders have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), Hou facing a charge of making a false accusation, with the other six each facing an illegal currency exchange charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded false accusation suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape on Friday. – Photos: Armindo Neves
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the six illegal currency exchange suspects to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape on Friday.
