A local man was arrested on Friday in the mainland for cheating his friend out of two million patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kam Fai said at a regular press conference yesterday.
The suspect is a 44-year-old jobless local man surnamed Iek.
According to Cheong, a 46-year-old man reported to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) through his lawyer on June 22 that he had been cheated by his friend, Iek, out of two million patacas. The victim had known Iek since childhood and Iek knew that the victim had sold his flat in Macau for 3.88 million patacas recently. Iek asked the victim to temporarily deposit two million patacas into his bank account as he needed proof that he had sufficient funds in his bank account to apply for a syndicated loan for a business deal.
The victim then twice deposited sums of one million patacas into Iek’s bank account. Iek later came up with a lot of excuses and never returned the money to the victim. Afterwards, the victim was unable to contact Iek so he reported the case to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) through his lawyer.
Cheong said MP officers transferred the case to Judiciary Police whose officers discovered that Iek had never applied to the bank for a loan and that he had absconded to the mainland.
PJ officers asked the Public Security Bureau (PSB) in the mainland for assistance in the case through Interpol. PJ officers received notification from the Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers in the mainland on Friday that they had arrested Iek who was then transferred to the Judiciary Police (PJ) the following day.
Under questioning, Iek denied that he defrauded the victim but admitted that he had got two million patacas from the victim. He later went to the mainland as he was unable to repay the money. Iek refused to reveal the whereabouts of the money.
Iek was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Saturday for follow-up investigation, facing a fraud charge, according to Cheong.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kam Fai poses during yesterday’s regular press conference. Photo: Camy Tam
