A local man was arrested last Friday for cheating a female gambler out of 1.7 million yuan (HK$2 million) with an accomplice in 2018, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old suspect surnamed Cheong told the police that he works as a chef.

According to Ho, the victim reported to the police on August 11, 2018 that she had been cheated out of 1.7 million yuan by two men. She told the police that she struck a deal with Cheong to exchange 1.7 million yuan into HK$2 million for her to gamble with on August 9, 2018. After the victim transferred the yuan to a bank account, Cheong went to a VIP room in Cotai with the accomplice later that day and gave the HK$2 million to the victim to gamble who then won over HK$2 million. The victim took her winnings and asked the two men to keep her initial stake of HK$2 million in the VIP account of one of the suspects.

Ho said the victim went to the VIP room on the next day to gamble again and won HK$1.69 million. She took the winnings and again let the duo keep her initial stake of HK$2 million for her. The victim decided to get back the HK$2 million on August 11 but she was unable to contact the two men. She suspected that she had been cheated and reported the case to the police.

According to Ho, Cheong was arrested last Friday by the Public Security Police (PSP) when he went to the Entry and Exit Immigration Section to submit an application for a non-resident work permit. Under questioning, Cheong refused to cooperate with the police. Ho added that Cheong claimed he had given the HK$2 million to his alleged accomplice. The Judiciary Police were looking for the money as well as the accomplice at the time of the press conference.

Cheong was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) last Saturday, facing an abuse-of-trust charge, according to Ho.