5 victims in Macau lose 413,000 patacas
The Judiciary Police (PJ) have arrested two men, from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, for assisting a gang in Hong Kong to collect fraudulently obtained money through a ‘guess who I am’ phone scam.
At least five female senior citizens in Macau were defrauded by the gang, with total losses amounting to 413,000 patacas.
The case was announced by PJ spokeswoman Leong Sok Man and senior PJ investigator Orlando Lam Iek during a special press conference yesterday.
The two suspects are a 37-year-old mainlander surnamed Huang, who told the police that he works as a car salesman, and a 31-year-old Hong Kong resident surnamed Mak, who told the police that he works as a driver.
The case came to light after one of the five victims reported it to the police on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier that day, this victim had received a call on her home landline. The caller falsely claimed that her son was involved in an assault case in the Chinese mainland and was being detained by the police there, demanding 50,000 yuan as ‘bail money’.
The victim told the caller that she only had 40,000 patacas in cash at the time, and the caller instructed her to hand the money to someone at a designated location in the peninsula’s northern district. After the victim arrived at the location, Huang approached her, claiming to be her son’s ‘guarantor’, and collected the 40,000 patacas from her.
The victim later realised that she had been defrauded after verifying her son’s alleged detention with her family members. She then reported the case to the police.
Later on Tuesday, the Judiciary Police identified two suspects – Huang and Mak – involved in the Hong Kong gang’s ‘guess who I am’ phone scam. The modus operandi was that after Huang collected the fraudulently obtained money from victims, he handed it to Mak, who was tasked with assisting the gang in processing and collecting the ill-gotten cash. Mak had been involved in the gang’s fraudulent activities for two months.
On Tuesday night, the police separately arrested Huang and Mak as they were about to leave Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB).
Following further investigation, the Judiciary Police discovered that Huang had also collected 93,000 patacas and 100,000 patacas in cash from two other victims on Tuesday, after which he handed the money to Mak.
The police also discovered that two other senior citizens were defrauded by the gang last month. They handed 100,000 patacas and 80,000 patacas to a man – whom the police are yet to identify – who then handed the money to Mak, who subsequently transferred it to the gang.
PJ officers later contacted the other four victims. At the time of yesterday’s press conference, the police were still investigating whether more victims in Macau had been defrauded by the Hong Kong gang.
All five victims decided to file criminal complaints. They lost a total of 413,000 patacas.
Huang had been paid 1,000 yuan for collecting money from the victims, while Mak had been paid HK$1,500 for assisting the gang in processing and collecting the fraudulently obtained money.
The two suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning and investigation.
HK man nabbed for drug trafficking
Meanwhile, PJ spokeswoman Leong Sok Man also announced during yesterday’s press conference that a 29-year-old Hong Kong man was arrested on Wednesday for smuggling drugs from Hong Kong to Macau.
After receiving a tip-off, PJ officers identified the man, who had been smuggling drugs into Macau for a period of time. They intercepted him on Wednesday night as he was entering Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB).
The police found 24.96 grammes of cocaine hidden in the soles of his shoes, with an estimated street value of 50,000 patacas.
The police later searched a flat in the peninsula’s northern district where he normally lives while in Macau. They seized an electronic scale and a quantity of plastic bags used for packing drugs.
According to Leong, the man has been using drugs for many years. He had been smuggling drugs from Hong Kong to Macau since March this year, where he took some of the drugs himself and sold the rest.
The police are still investigating whether the man was hired by a gang to smuggle the drugs.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the two hooded “guess who I am” suspects to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Tony Wong
