A local man stealthily took a video of his colleague in a women’s toilet in an office building in Nam Van district last week, Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Kong Chi Ian said during a regular press conference yesterday.
The suspect surnamed Ip, who is in his thirties, told the police that he works as an engineer.
The office building is located on Avenida Comercial de Macau.
The victim is a local woman in her thirties.
When the woman was using the toilet on the floor where her company is located after work on Thursday evening last week, Kong said, she found somebody peeping at her from the next cubicle.
The woman quickly came out of her cubicle in an attempt to stop the Peeping Tom but he ran away. She reported the case to the police.
When the woman was waiting in the building’s lobby for police officers to arrive, Ip approached her and falsely told her that “he had tried to catch the man who had peeped at her, but in vain”.
Ip had meanwhile deleted the stealthily taken video clip on his smartphone.
However, Kong said, after scrutinising the office building’s CCTV footage, PSP officers identified Ip as the suspected Peeping Tom.
Under questioning, Kong said, Ip admitted to having peeped at his colleague “out of curiosity”. He told the police that after running away from the toilet, he saw the victim in the building’s lobby. With the aim of preventing the victim from discovering that he was the Peeping Tom, Ip decided to falsely tell her that “he had tried to catch the man who had peeped at her”.
Ip has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, facing an invasion of privacy charge.
Woman loses 100,900 patacas in ‘fortune-telling’ fraud
Meanwhile, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during yesterday’s regular press conference that a young local woman lost 100,900 patacas in an online scam where the fraudster falsely told her that he could provide her with “fortune-telling” services.
According to Ho, the victim reported the case to the police on Friday last week.
In late October last year, the victim saw an advertisement on a social media platform offering “fortune-telling” and “luck-enhancing” services. The victim contacted the “advertiser”, and during their communication, the fraudster claimed that purchasing “ritual objects” and having “prayer ceremonies” performed could improve her fortune, asking the victim to transfer money to buy items such as necklaces, bracelets and a treasure bowl, promising that “prayer ceremonies” would be conducted for her after her payments.
According to Ho, the victim believed the claims, after which she made multiple money transfers, between October 30 and December 10 last year, totalling 14,200 patacas to pay for the “ritual objects” and “prayer ceremonies”.
After receiving the payments from the victim, Ho said, the fraudster falsely told the victim in December last year that during the fortune-enhancing process, he had purchased a Mark Six lottery ticket for her and won HK$1.23 million. However, the fraudster told her that she needed to pay a “handling fee” and “taxes” of 38,000 patacas in order to obtain the winnings, after which the victim transferred the money.
Over recent weeks, Ho said, the fraudster again told the victim to transfer more money, citing requirements to pay “postage”, “insurance fees” and “import and export taxes”. The victim made multiple transfers totalling 48,700 patacas between March 6 and Thursday last week.
After being repeatedly asked to pay money, the victim eventually realised that she had been defrauded, and reported the case to the police on Friday last week.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok (left) and Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Kong Chi Ian address yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Tony Wong
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows two PSP officers escorting the suspected peeping Tom to the police station near the city centre, officially known as Praia Grande (Nam Van) Police Station.
