The Judiciary Police (PJ) apprehended a woman from the Chinese mainland for exchanging fake banknotes on the first day of the Year of Horse, PJ spokesman Cheong Siu Keong said during a special press conference on Wednesday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 30-year-old woman surnamed Yan who claimed to be jobless.
Around midnight on Tuesday, a gambler at a casino in Cotai wanted to exchange 29 HK$1,000 banknotes into gaming chips at a gaming table. Cheong said that the table’s dealer noticed that the colour of the banknotes appeared unusual, later confirming that the 29 banknotes were counterfeits. Casino security then reported the case to the police. Cheong said that the gambler told the police that she had obtained the banknotes earlier that day in a casino toilet after being approached by an individual identified as Yan, who offered to exchange them for 25,955 yuan.
PJ officers arrested Yan at the casino, according to Cheong, and seized 51 counterfeit banknotes at her hotel guestroom in Cotai.
Upon examination, Cheong said, all 80 notes were confirmed to be fakes, lacking watermarks and security threads, adding that the printing quality was crude, with all authentic features missing.
Cheong said that PJ officers seized the counterfeit notes as well as a mobile phone as part of the investigation.
Cheong also said that regarding whether Yan is involved in other cases and the source of the counterfeits, the Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation.
Yan has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of fraud and exchanging counterfeit currency.
Evidence displayed at the PJ headquarters in Zape on Wednesday shows 80 counterfeit HK$1,000 notes and a smartphone. – Photo: Armindo Neves
