A non-resident worker from the mainland has been arrested for cheating a mainland businessman out of 600 million yuan (672 million patacas) in an investment scheme, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lai Man Vai said in a regular press conference yesterday.

The police are looking for other possible suspects and the whereabouts of most of the 600 million yuan, Lai said.

The 41-year-old suspect surnamed Wang, a non-resident worker, told the police that he works in a seafood restaurant.

According to Lai, the victim, who is in his sixties, reported to the police on January 19 that he was introduced to Wang through other suspects in 2016. Wang convinced the victim to invest in businesses located in a resort hotel in Cotai and a restaurant in Zape district. Wang told the victim that besides earning a monthly interest of 2.45 percent, he would also get dividends from the operating income.

Lai said the victim remitted on various occasions a total of 600 million yuan to bank accounts in the mainland between 2016 and 2018. The victim received a “return” and “profit” of nearly 100 million yuan in the early stages of the investment.

Lai pointed out the last time the victim received some money was in 2017. Afterwards, the suspects started to use a string of procrastination tactics and the victim was not able to receive any further “profit”, and later he also lost contact with Wang. Finally, the victim decided to report the case to the police.

According to Lai, the police discovered that some of the businesses in which the victim had “invested” were located in a resort hotel in Cotai and also involved a restaurant in Zape, but they had meanwhile been sold to someone else, while some of the companies did not operate at all.

The police also discovered that 24.9 million yuan of the victim’s investment was transferred to Wang’s account in the mainland. The police tracked down Wang and told him to report to a police station on Thursday to assist in the investigation. Wang denied committing any crime and only admitted that he was involved in the setting-up of the companies, according to Lai.

Wang was arrested and transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) on Thursday for further investigation, facing a fraud charge involving a considerable amount, officially defined as exceeding 150,000 patacas. The police are continuing their investigation and are looking for other possible suspects who were still on the run at the time of yesterday’s press conference, according to Lai. 

Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lai Man Vai (left) and Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Choi Iok Kin pose during the two police forces’ joint press conference yesterday. Photo: Camy Tam