A local woman was arrested on Friday for stealing her daughter’s luxury watch to raise cash for her gambling habit, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Sou Sio Keong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Sou, a local woman reported to the police on Wednesday that she could not find her watch worth more than 100,000 patacas at home last Tuesday and suspected that her gambling-addicted mother stole it. She called her mother who claimed that she stole her watch to pay debts which she owed a gang of loan sharks. She also told her daughter that she had been held against her will by the gang in a flat in Areia Preta. The victim was worried about her mother’s safety so she reported the case to the police.
The jobless 51-year-old suspect is a local resident surnamed Chao.
Sou said PJ officers discovered that Chao had been gambling in several casinos in Zape for several days. They intercepted Chao in a casino in Zape early Friday and seized gambling chips worth HK$1,120 from her.
Chao has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation. At the time of the press conference the whereabouts of the watch were still unclear. Chao faces an aggravated theft charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Sou Sio Keong (left) and Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lam Keong pose during the two police forces’ regular joint press conference yesterday. Photo: Camy Tam
