The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested two women for fraud and money laundering on Wednesday, PJ spokesman Chao Teng Hin said during a special press conference yesterday.
Chao identified the suspects as a 64-year-old Filipina surnamed Sy and a 43-year-old local resident surnamed Wong. Sy told police that she works as a domestic helper, while Wong said that she is a casino dealer, Chao said.
According to Chao, there are two separate victims in the case. The first victim reported the case in August, saying that in February she met a man online who claimed to be a “soldier” stationed at Macau’s barracks. After developing an online romantic relationship, the victim was induced by the man to invest on a specific investment platform, Chao said.
The victim, according to Chao, invested a total of 1.22 million patacas during this process. Subsequently, the platform’s purported customer service requested further payments for reasons such as requiring a deposit, according to Chao, but the victim then discovered that she was unable to withdraw any funds and subsequently lost contact with the “soldier”.
Chao also said that a follow-up investigation revealed that the defrauded funds were transferred to the bank accounts of the two suspects in February and March, respectively. It also showed that the two suspects were involved in another similar investment fraud case, which resulted in a second victim losing 1.38 million patacas, according to Chao. Of that amount, 880,000 patacas was transferred to Sy’s account by Wong and Sy transferred 200,000 patacas to Wong’s account.
Yesterday, according to Chao, PJ officers arrested Sy and Wong in the northern district and Zape respectively. Both suspects failed to provide a clear explanation for the reasons behind receiving the substantial sums of money and the final destination of the funds.
The duo were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, both facing charges of fraud and money laundering.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the two hooded suspects to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Armindo Neves
