Alleged casino investment fraud leads to arrest in Cotai

In a case of alleged fraud, a 35-year-old mainland resident has been detained by authorities in the Cotai district. The victim, a middle-aged man, claims to have lost over RMB3 million in an alleged casino investment scheme, the Judiciary Police announced yesterday.

According to the investigation, the case began in October 2019 when a fugitive suspect and a detained suspect falsely claimed to the victim that they had opened a casino in Cotai. They allegedly promised the victim that if they invested money in the casino, they would receive 24% annual dividends.

The suspects went so far as to take the victim to the casino on multiple occasions between 2019 and 2020, convincing the victim that the investment would be profitable. However, the victim had no formal investment documents and was never informed of the specific casino they were investing in.

During this period, the victim transferred a total of RMB3 million through mainland bank accounts to the mainland bank account designated by the fugitive suspect. Despite the victim’s repeated attempts to access the promised dividends, they were unable to do so and did not recover their investment principal.

In an attempt to regain the victim’s trust, one of the suspects signed a loan of RMB3 million over to the victim. However, the victim still did not receive any dividends or recover the initial investment.

On July 20, the victim confronted the suspect at a casino in Cotai, leading to a dispute over the money and debt. Casino security guards and authorities intervened and, after a comprehensive investigation, found strong indications that the suspect had committed a criminal act of fraud. Victoria Chan