Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a special press conference yesterday that a PJ criminal investigator stationed at a casino was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday morning for stealing HK$19,000 from a mainland illegal currency exchange dealer on September 3 at a Cotai casino-hotel resort.

According to Lou, the 32-year-old suspect, surnamed Chan, is a local man who has been in the Judiciary Police for 10 years, while the 48-year-old female victim, surnamed Fan, had overstayed in Macau since August 25.

Lou said that the Public Security Police (PSP) arrested Fan on a street at 8 p.m. on Tuesday for overstaying in Macau. Under questioning, Fan admitted that she had also engaged in illegal currency exchange deals. At the same time, Lou added, Fan reported to the police that she had been stopped by Chan and taken to the PJ office in a Cotai casino-hotel resort on September 3 for investigation, during which she had put HK$430,000 in cash on a table. After the investigation and leaving the office, Fan said she found that HK$ 19,000 of the cash was missing, adding that she did not report the case to the police immediately as she knew she had overstayed for a while.

Lou noted that the Public Security Police referred the case to the Judiciary Police on Wednesday to follow up.

According to Lou, Chan was summoned on Wednesday for further investigation, however, he could not explain the incident and why he did not report to his superior that he had taken Fan to the office at that time. Lou said that Chan denied that he had taken Fan’s cash.

Lou pointed out that Chan was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday morning, where he faces a charge of embezzlement.

PJ officer violating law placed on temporary suspension

The Judiciary Police said in a statement yesterday that a PJ criminal investigator stationed at a casino, who was suspected of violating the law during the interception of an illegal currency exchange dealer has been placed on temporary suspension.

The statement added that disciplinary proceedings have been launched to follow up on the case. 

Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai addresses yesterday’s special press conference at the PJ headquarters in Nape. – Photo: Yuki Lei