A mainlander was arrested on Friday for cheating a gambler out of 410,000 yuan, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lai Man Vai said in a regular press conference yesterday.
The 27-year-old male suspect surnamed Zhang told the police that he is jobless.
According to Lai, the 25-year-old victim, who is also from the mainland, reported to the police on February 22 that he had won HK$800,000 in a casino on April 15 last year. The victim made a deal with the suspect to remit 688,000 yuan (HK$763,620 at yesterday’s exchange rate) to the former’s account in the mainland. The victim deposited his winnings in a VIP account according to the suspect’s instructions and returned to the mainland.
Lai said the victim only received 278,000 of the 688,000 yuan he had deposited. The victim confronted the suspect on numerous occasions about the outstanding amount of 410,000 yuan but to no avail. The victim suspected he was being defrauded and reported the case to the police.
The police arrested Zhang at the Barrier Gate checkpoint when he re-entered the city on Friday. Zhang denied the fraud. However, according to the VIP room records, the police discovered that the suspect had withdrawn HK$500,000 in cash from the VIP account into which the victim had deposited his winnings. Lai said the police suspect that Zhang transferred HK$300,000 from that account to another VIP account.
Zhang has been transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP), facing a charge of fraud involving a considerable amount, officially defined as exceeding 150,000 patacas, according to Lai.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesmen Lai Man Vai poses during yesterday’s regular press conference at the pressroom of the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters. Photo: Camy Tam
