The police arrested a man from the mainland on Friday for attempting to rob a money-changer in a guest room of a Cotai casino resort hotel, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a special press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday.

The target was a man from the mainland surnamed Chen, who engages in currency exchange via instant messaging (IM) application WeChat, according to Choi. The suspect is a 28-year-old man from the mainland surnamed Li.

Choi said that Li, pretending to be a customer, contacted Chen on Thursday via the online chat app to ask to change 856,000 yuan into HK$1 million. Chen agreed to meet Li in a hotel room to carry out the transaction.

Items including a toy gun and three handcuffs seized by the police in an attempt robbery case, are displayed during a special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape yesterday. Photo: Iong Tat Choi

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