A mainland woman was arrested last week for cheating two neighbours out of HK$428,500 (441,500 patacas), by falsely claiming that she could help them earn money through currency exchange deals, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Mark Sou Sio Keong said at a regular press conference yesterday.
The 35-year-old jobless suspect surnamed Lin is from Shenzhen.
According to Sou, a couple and Lin went to a police station on Wednesday where the couple told the police that they had been cheated by Lin out of HK$428,500. The victims said that they are Lin’s neighbours in Shenzhen. Lin told the couple last month that she was engaged in currency exchange activities in Macau which could earn big profits. She urged them to invest in her currency exchange business.
According to Sou, the couple came to Macau with Lin on December 4 and gave Lin a total of HK$428,500 in cash over several occasions. After receiving the money, Lin claimed that she would go to a casino to look for currency exchange clients. She also told the couple that they did not need to get involved in the deals and urged them to gamble in the casino instead.
Sou said Lin gave the couple on several occasions amounts ranging between HK$2,000 and HK$6,000, totalling HK$12,000, as purported returns in their investment, but Lin gambled away the couple’s total investment in two casinos in Zape. When Lin on Wednesday asked the couple to increase their investment, they grew suspicious. Asked by the couple how their investment was going, Lin finally owned up. The couple then accompanied Lin to a police station to report the case later that day.
Lin was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, facing charges of fraud involving a considerable amount, officially defined as exceeding 150,000 patacas, according to Sou.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Mark Sou Sio Keong poses during a regular press conference yesterday.
Photo: Camy Tam
