Canadian arrested for MOP2.3 billion fraud

A Canadian man was arrested in Macau on Saturday for allegedly attempting to defraud a local entertainment company out of MOP2.3 billion (around USD284 million).

The bank had rejected a request by the suspect on Jan. 21 to transfer funds from the unidentified company’s account after his signature didn’t match one they had on record, and he left, according to media reports.

The 61-year-old suspect, surnamed Leao, was arrested as he tried to leave Macau, and has been charged with fraud and forging documents after such papers were found on him, according to the report. He has denied the crime, and was transferred to the prosecutor’s office, the paper said.

Bank staff informed the police after they noticed that there were irregularities in the transaction, such as the signatures being different.

The suspect left the bank immediately, while the bank contacted the entertainment company to question such remittances. The company allegedly informed it hadn’t authorized any of its employees to carry out the transaction.

“After our department’s investigation, we learned the suspect’s identity and stopped the suspect when he was leaving town on January 25, at around 6 p.m. After investigations of the suspect, we found the remittance slip with his signature [along with] other information,” said the spokesperson,

“We have enough proof that the suspect used a fake power of attorney and remittance slip, attempting to steal money from a local entertainment company and bank,” he added.

According to authorities, the suspect refused to cooperate but it is believed that there were other people involved in the case.