The Judiciary Police (PJ) have arrested four men from the Chinese mainland for robbing an illegal currency exchange dealer of HK$500,000 (515,000 patacas) and for money laundering, PJ spokesman Vong Kuan Hung said during a special press conference yesterday.
Vong identified the suspects as a 33-year-old male surnamed Wang who claimed to be jobless, a 34-year-old male surnamed Dan also claimed to be unemployed, a 29-year-old supermarket employee surnamed Zhang, and a 27-year-old store manager also surnamed Zhang. The victim is a man who engaged in illegal currency exchange activities in Macau.
According to Vong, the victim received a message early Saturday morning from Wang, whom he had previously exchanged currency with. Wang requested that the victim bring cash to a hotel guestroom in Cotai for another currency exchange deal. Upon arriving at the guestroom with HK$1.89 million, the victim found Wang absent and instead completed a HK$10,000 transaction with two men who later fled to the Chinese mainland.
Vong noted that one of the men suddenly restrained the victim from behind, and together they forced him to the ground. They took the victim’s smartphone and threatened to report him to the police for his illegal currency exchange activities unless he handed over HK$600,000 in cash. Fearing for his safety and the risk of losing his funds to the police, the victim surrendered HK$500,000 after three hours of bargaining.
Vong said that to prevent the remaining HK$1.38 million from being discovered, the victim entrusted the money to an accomplice near the hotel for safekeeping. When he later demanded that Wang return the HK$500,000, to no avail, he reported the case to the police.
Vong mentioned that after the robbery, the two attackers met up with Wang and Dan at a restaurant in Zape. Following the victim’s threat to alert the police, the attackers quickly left with the HK$500,000 and proceeded to another hotel guestroom in Zape where they met the two Zhangs. The attackers exchanged the HK$500,000 for yuan through the two Zhangs and transferred the funds to a designated bank account in the Chinese mainland. Once the transfer was completed, they immediately fled Macau via the Macau-Hengqin joint checkpoint.
The police apprehended Wang that evening at the Barrier Gate checkpoint as he attempted to leave Macau, while Dan was arrested in a hotel guestroom in Cotai early Sunday morning. The two attackers who had fled to Zhuhai were caught by mainland police at a hotel in Zhuhai. The two Zhangs were later intercepted near a hotel in Zape. The police seized five smartphones, HK$1,300, 1,500 yuan, and 400 patacas in cash from the four suspects.
The suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, each facing charges of money laundering, while Wang and Dan additionally face robbery charges.
Vong noted that the case was resolved within five hours from the initial report to the apprehension of the main suspects, showcasing the effectiveness of the cooperative mechanism between the police in Macau and the Chinese mainland in combating cross-border crime.
Vong added that the Judiciary Police (PJ) have initiated a separate investigation into the victim’s involvement in illegal currency exchange activities in Macau.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the four hooded suspects to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
