The Judiciary Police nabbed a man from the Chinese mainland on Saturday for defrauding an illegal currency exchange dealer, PJ spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said during yesterday regular press conference.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 26-year-old man surnamed Wu who claimed to be jobless.
According to Cheong, Wu recently met a fellow mainlander engaged in illegal currency exchange activities in a local casino.
On Saturday evening, Cheong said, Wu and the victim arranged to meet at a casino in Cotai.
Wu told dealer that he needed to film a short video for social media and asked to borrow cash to use as a prop. The dealer believed him and handed over gaming chips worth HK$170,000 (174,000 patacas) to Wu, according to Cheong, adding that both went to the casino cage and converted the chips into the equivalent amount of cash.
After receiving the cash, Cheong said, Wu said that he urgently needed the money to cover cash flow issues and right away grabbed the cash from the dealer. A dispute broke out between the two, which alerted casino security personnel, who then contacted the police, Cheong said.
Cheong said that PJ officers arrested Wu and seized the HK$170,000 in cash involved in the incident, as well as his smartphone.
Wu has meanwhile been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, according to Cheong, adding that as the victim is suspected of engaging in illegal currency exchange activities in local casinos, the Judiciary Police have opened a separate case to investigate the matter.
This undated photo provided by the Judiciary Police yesterday shows evidence seized from Wu.
