The Judiciary Police (PJ) busted a HK$33 million (34 million patacas) illegal exchange operation run by a tea and wine shop on Wednesday, PJ spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday, adding that two men working for the shop have been arrested.
Leng identified the two suspects as a 42-year-old mainlander surnamed Fan and a 41-year-old local resident surnamed Chu.
According to Leng, PJ officers earlier received intelligence indicating that a shop in an integrated resort in Nape was suspected of engaging in illegal currency exchange activities.
Upon investigation, an operation was launched on Wednesday, involving surveillance of the shop and its surroundings, Leng said. During the operation, Leng said that PJ officers observed that the two suspects showed a payment QR code to two mainland women, who then made transactions via their mobile phones. The suspects removed cash from a drawer and handed it to the two female gamblers, who then entered the casino to gamble and were immediately intercepted and investigated by PJ officers.
During a search of the shop, according to Leng, PJ officers seized HK$208,100 in cash suspected to be used for illegal currency exchange deals, a ledger, and a smartphone used in the commission of the offence, adding that PJ officers confiscated HK$3,000 worth of casino chips remaining after the two women had exchanged the money and began to gamble.
According to Leng, PJ officers confirmed that the shop had been operating an illegal currency exchange business since November last year, involving up to HK$33 million and generating illicit profits of at least around one million yuan (1.15 million patacas).
Fan and Chu were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, each facing an illegal currency exchange charge.
Evidence such as HK dollar banknotes, gaming chips, a smartphone and a ledger are displayed during a special press conference about Macau’s latest illegal currency exchange case, at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Armindo Neves
