The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested two men from the Chinese mainland on Friday for cheating two gamblers out of 895,000 yuan (1.02 million patacas) in an illegal currency exchange deal, PJ spokesman Cheong Un Hong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspects as a 47-year-old male surnamed Wu who claimed to be jobless, and a 38-year-old snack-shop owner surnamed Jiao.
According to Cheong, the Judiciary Police (PJ) received a referral on Friday from the Public Security Police (PSP) about a fraud case.
Cheong noted that two female gamblers arrived in Macau on Friday, planning to pool money for gambling. They were introduced to Wu and Jiao for a currency exchange deal through a friend. They then communicated via WeChat and agreed to exchange 895,000 yuan for HK$1 million.
The two gamblers later went to a hotel guestroom in Cotai for the transaction, during which they wanted to count the cash first. Wu and Jiao handed over HK$1 million in cash for the gamblers to count, but then took it back immediately.
After counting, the two gamblers transferred 398,000 yuan and 497,000 yuan respectively via their smartphones. However, Wu and Jiao suddenly claimed that they had not received the transfers and refused to hand over the cash, leading to a dispute. Suspecting that they had been scammed, the two gamblers immediately reported the case to the police.
Upon arriving at the scene, the police apprehended Wu and Jiao, seizing HK$1 million in cash and two smartphones from them.
The duo have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of illegal currency exchange and fraud.
This undated handout photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday shows the HK$1 million in cash and two smartphones seized from the two suspects.
