The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a mainland fruit shop owner on Sunday for robbing a sex worker last Friday, PJ spokesman Cheong Un Hong announced during a special press conference at PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 37-year-old man surnamed Sun. He added that the victim is a middle-aged female tourist suspected of working as a prostitute.
According to Cheong, the victim met Sun in a Cotai hotel lobby last Thursday, where they exchanged contact details.
At around 6:00 p.m. last Friday, Sun arranged to meet the victim in a hotel room for transactional sex. Cheong stated that after the act, Sun suddenly strangled the victim, threatened her with a fruit knife, bound her hands and feet with tape, and demanded HK$100,000 (102,936 patacas).
Fearing for her life, the victim complied. Sun then took her to a casino and, using an illegal currency exchange dealer, converted 80,000 yuan (96,020 patacas) from her mobile banking account into HK$90,000 worth of casino chips for gambling.
After losing the entire amount, Sun forced the victim to hand over another HK$10,000, which he also gambled away. Sun subsequently claimed the money was merely a loan and warned the victim against reporting the incident.
The victim later confided in a friend, who assisted her in filing a report with the Judiciary Police. Investigations revealed that Sun had purchased the fruit knife and tape at a supermarket several hours prior to the case, pointing to a premeditated crime. Officers recovered the knife – measuring 20 cm in length including a 9 cm blade – from the hotel room.
Sun was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday to face charges of robbery and possession of an illegal weapon.
Meanwhile, Cheong also said that as the victim is suspected of being involved in prostitution, the matter will be investigated further.
While prostitution per se is not illegal in Macau, tourists are now allowed to engage in gainful employment during their stay here.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Armindo Neves
