The Judiciary Police (PJ) apprehended a man from the Chinese mainland for stealing gold nuggets from his girlfriend’s roommate, PJ spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said during a special press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 39-year-old man surnamed Guo who claimed to be jobless.
According to Cheong, Guo is the boyfriend of a female tenant in an apartment located in Zape.
Guo took the keys to the apartment’s front door and had them copied without his girlfriend’s knowledge, Cheong said, adding that by using the duplicate key, Guo got into the flat and used a fake key to open the door to the victim’s room.
Cheong said that Guo broke into the unit twice, on February 7 and on Saturday, stealing HK$170,000 (174,700 patacas) in cash from a drawer and 19 gold nuggets from a clear bottle on the victim’s dressing table.
The victim had returned to her hometown on February 7 and returned to Macau on Monday, Cheong said.
Early Monday morning, she returned to the flat and discovered the theft. She immediately reported it to the police. Later that morning, the suspect, realising his crime had been discovered, turned himself in to the Public Security Police (PSP)
Cheong said that PJ officers recovered all 19 gold nuggets from a pawnshop, which have a total estimated value of 24,730 patacas.
Guo was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of theft and fraud.
Evidence of the theft-cum-fraud case is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape yesterday – gold nuggets, a smartphone, a duplicate key, fake key, and a pawnshop receipt. – Photo: Armindo Neves
