The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested five men from the Chinese mainland for casino loan sharking, PJ spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during a special press conference yesterday.
Ho identified the quintet as being aged between 34 and 41, surnamed Zhang, Wang, Zhu, Guo and Liu, all of whom claimed to be jobless, adding that a sixth suspect was still at large at the time of the press conference.
According to Ho, at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, a gambler asked the gang to loan him some money, after which they discussed the lending terms in the victim’s hotel guest room in Cotai.
Ho said both sides agreed that the gambler would contribute HK$100,000 (102,868 patacas) while they would provide HK$200,000 to a joint gambling pool totalling HK$300,000. The victim was required to sign an IOU that stated if he won a baccarat hand with a total of 7, 8, or 9, he would be obligated to pay the group 30 percent of the bet as “interest”, according to Ho.
Liu, Guo and Zhu accompanied the victim to a casino in Cotai to gamble, Ho said.
Liu provided HK$300,000 in chips and the victim placed bets independently, according to Ho. Guo and Zhu were tasked with collecting the “interest”, while Zhang monitored the situation nearby and assisted with chip exchanges. Wang held onto the IOU.
By around 6 a.m., three of the victim’s friends arrived to persuade him to stop gambling, Ho said, adding that a noisy row broke out between them and the five suspects, which alerted security personnel and led to the police being called.
According to Ho, during the investigation, PJ officers discovered that the victim was charged HK$50,000 in “interest”. The officers seized HK$340,000 in cash, chips worth HK$263,000, six mobile phones, the IOU and a receipt from the quintet, Ho said.
The quintet were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing usury charges.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the five hooded casino loan-sharking suspects from the Chinese mainland to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Armindo Neves
