A Vietnamese man and a woman were arrested on Monday for conspiracy to coerce and extort 37,000 patacas out of a female compatriot, Judiciary Police (PJ) Leng Kam Lon said during a regular press conference on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old suspect surnamed Nguyen told police he was jobless while the 48-year-old female suspect surnamed Pham said she is a non-resident worker employed as a domestic helper.
According to Leng, the victim, in her forties, reported to the police on April 1 that she was forced to sign a 37,000-pataca IOU, although she had only borrowed 22,000 patacas from Pham last September, and after repaying 3,000 patacas in several instalments she stopped paying Pham.
Nguyen became involved in the case at the end of March when he went to the victim’s home and got her in a chokehold when she opened the door. Nguyen forced the victim to sign the 37,000-pataca IOU and left the flat. Afterwards, the victim reported the case to the police.
According to Leng, PJ officers discovered that Nguyen is an illegal immigrant and arrested him on Monday with the help of the Public Security Police (PSP). Nguyen admitted to committing the crime.
Police officers later arrested Pham who denied that she had asked Nguyen to collect the outstanding amount from the victim. However, Leng said that PJ officers discovered evidence that the two suspects collaborated in committing the crime and suspect that Nguyen would have been paid 15,000 patacas for getting the victim to pay up.
The duo were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Wednesday, both facing a coercion charge, while Nguyen also faces an extortion charge.
