Mainland gambler cheated out of HK$2.2 million: PJ

A casino gambler from the mainland told the Judiciary Police (PJ) early this month that he had been cheated out of HK$2.2 million (US$275,000) in winnings by a fellow mainlander, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a press conference yesterday.

According to Chan, the victim had transferred 500,000 yuan from his mainland bank account to the account of a 58-year-old mainland businessman surnamed Yu as a security deposit on January 25, so that Yu would take the victim to gamble in local casinos’ VIP rooms.

Chan said that the victim then gambled in several VIP rooms between the end of last month and early this month, winning HK$2.2 million. Macau’s casinos were ordered by the government on February 4 to close on the next day for two weeks to reduce gamblers and casino workers’ risk of infection with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Yu told the victim that he would hold on to the winnings and give the victim the money once the VIP rooms had finished their inventory. But Yu kept coming up with different excuses and never gave the victim his winnings so the latter, whose surname was not released by the police, finally reported the case to the Judiciary Police.

Yu was arrested on February 8 at the local airport, but he denied the accusation.

Yu was transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) on February 10 for further investigation. He faces a possible charge of fraud involving a considerable amount, officially defined as exceeding 150,000 patacas, while the other suspect, who helped Yu, was still on the run at the time of the press conference.