The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a woman and two men from the Chinese mainland on Saturday for usury, PJ spokesman Cheong Siu Keong said during a special press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspects as a 41-year-old male surnamed Cao, a 48-year-old male surnamed Yu and a 35-year-old female surnamed Cheng, all of whom claimed to be jobless.
According to Cheong, the police received a report of high-interest loan activities at a casino in Cotai on Saturday morning. Upon their arrival, the police caught the trio red-handed. They seized two smartphones and HK$220,000 in chips from Yu, two smartphones, HK$47,500 in cash, and HK$29,000 in chips from Cheng, and one smartphone and HK$400 in cash from Cao.
Cheong noted that a male gambler had previously met Cheng online through a social media platform during his visit to Macau on December 28. They agreed to “invest” together in gambling in a hotel guestroom in Cotai, contributing equally. Although no written agreement was signed, they agreed that Yu would be responsible for placing bets and would take 20 percent of the respective betting amounts as “interest” for each winning round.
Cheong added that the victim and Yu each contributed HK$700,000, totalling HK$1.4 million for gambling on four occasions between December 30 and January 3. Yu placed the bets and extracted “interest”, with the victim paying about HK$400,000 in “interest”, Cheong said.
The trio were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, each facing a usury charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the three hooded casino loan-sharking suspects to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
