An illegal worker from the mainland was arrested last Friday of stealing a man’s handbag, PSP spokesman Cheong Heon Fan said during a regular press conference on Wednesday.
According to Cheong, a mainlander who had hired the illegal worker, was also arrested.
The 56-year-old male worker surnamed Chen who holds an Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau (colloquially known as a Two-Way Permit), told the police that he is jobless. The 65-year-old man, surnamed Guan, who had hired Chen told the police that he is a non-resident worker employed by a decoration engineering company.
According to Cheong, a local man reported to the police at 4:30 p.m. on June 20 that he had parked his scooter on the road side in Rua Cinco do Bairro da Areia Preta earlier that day and forgot to take his handbag which he had hung on his scooter. He discovered that his handbag had vanished when he returned to his scooter to collect it. He said the handbag worth 3,000 patacas contained 1,800 patacas in cash and his consumption subsidy smartcard (colloquially known as “siu fai kat” in Cantonese”) so that he incurred a total loss of more than 6,800 patacas.
PSP police officers finally tracked down Chen last Friday afternoon in front of a shop in Travessa do Mercado Municipal where he was doing renovation work. Under questioning, Chen confessed that he stole the handbag, took all the cash and then discarded the handbag.
Afterwards, police officers discovered that Chen was not entitled to work in Macau. They entered the shop and questioned Guan who was working there. Guan confessed that he had asked Chen to work for the company, according to Cheong. Guan is legally employed by the company.
Chen and Guan were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) last Friday, both facing illegal employment charges, while Chen also faces a theft-by-finding charge.
This handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Wednesday shows PSP officers escorting the two suspects to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) in Nape last Friday.
