A waitress went to a police station this week to tell the cops that she stole 23,000 patacas from a restaurant she worked for, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Sou Sio Keong said at a special press conference yesterday.
The 32-year-old suspect surnamed Liang, a non-resident worker, told the police she had worked for the restaurant for over a year.
According to Sou, the manager of the restaurant in the city centre reported to the police last Tuesday that the key of a security box in the restaurant had vanished and when a locksmith opened the lock it emerged that 23,000 patacas kept in the box had disappeared as well. The manager suspected that one of the restaurant employees stole the company’s money and reported the case to the police. The police investigated the employees and discovered that Liang failed to go to work from June 29 to July 6 and that the restaurant had lost contact with her. She became the prime suspect.
Sou said that Liang surrendered to the police on Monday. She confessed that she had furtively returned to the restaurant at 11 p.m. on June 28 after it had been closed for the day. She opened the door of the restaurant with a key that had been given to her by the employer and took another key put in a hidden corner next to the cash register to open the security box. She stole the cash and left the restaurant. Liang said she knew that her employer had reported the case to the police. She said she surrendered to the police because she was afraid, and told the police that she had gambled away all the stolen money.
Liang was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing an aggravated theft charge, according to Sou.
The hooded fraud suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday. Photo: Iong Tat Choi
